Non-functional street lights contribute to crime in Clarendon
Published:Monday | November 12, 2018 | 12:00 AM
MAY PEN, Clarendon:
Councillors at the monthly sitting of the Clarendon Municipal Cor-poration last Thursday said that a lack of working street lights is having a serious impact on crime in the parish.
To this end, they urged the mayor, Winston Maragh, in his capacity as the president of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA), to push for the matter to be resolved soon.
Councillor for the Hayes division Scean Barnswell, in highlighting a story in The Sunday Gleaner on break-ins affecting several businesses in May Pen, said that he drove around the town at different times of the day "to see what was happening".
"There are some areas that really need street lights. Some of them, the lights have been out for a number of weeks, which also contributes to the hidden spots," he said, adding that the criminals use the cover of darkness to carry out their activities. He urged that repairs be carried out soon and new lights installed as well.
"Once we do that, (we will) be able to resolve some of the break-ins," he told the meeting.
Councillor for the Crofts Hill division Anthony O'Connor also called for urgent attention to be given to the installation of street lights in the area.
Indicating that his area had seen "multiple robberies with high-powered weapons", each week, he, too, urged the mayor to "put pressure" on the powers that be.
"I don't want you to sit. I want to hear your voice saying, 'Now you're collecting, we need some new lamps to put in the divisions," he said, alluding to the news report that the Government had cleared its $7 billion debt to the JPS.
O'Connor said that there were some areas in the division that were so dark and vulnerable that robbers were capitalising on it.
He said that not even the churches were safe havens, noting that members had been robbed, too.
In his response, Maragh said that ALGA was awaiting a date to meet with the Minister of Finance and Public Service Nigel Clarke, where that and other matters would be discussed.