Street lights shot out by gunmen in August Town restored
Published:Friday | February 23, 2018 | 12:00 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
It was as if Christmas was in the air in August Town, St Andrew, when residents returned home on Wednesday night to see street lights, which had either been shot out by gunmen or had just gone bad. The lights once again shone brightly after the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) embarked on a reinstallation mission.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Thursday, councillor for the Papine division and caretaker for the Eastern St Andrew constituency Venesha Phillips heaped praises on the JPS for answering calls from residents for street lights.
"Wednesday night, my phone was inundated with calls as persons came home and found that the streets were properly lit. It was done right through Wednesday from about 11 a.m. to 5 o'clock in the evening. I just want to thank JPS on behalf of the citizens and the police because this will make their lives so much easier in terms of policing the area," Phillips said.
Thank you messages
"The people in an area called Open Land were really excited because the lanes were very dark. The people in Jungle Twelve were quite expressive on Facebook, sending me messages saying thank you. Right across the community it was almost like Christmas. It took a while, but we finally got there."
Just one or two corners in the area called Hermitage were not fitted with lights, but Phillips said that by the end of this weekend, everywhere should have street lights.
Phillips indicated that gunmen had been capitalising on the darkness, ambushing each other, and sometimes the innocent would get caught in the crossfire.
"Because of poor visibility, the ambushing of each other happened, and also, citizens have been caught in crossfire. So JPS did the entire community. On August Town Road, Barrett Drive, June Road, Jungle Twelve, Bryce Hill, and Duppy Lane, we restored lamps," she said.