The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS of the Kemp Road community continued to stress the need for a more “defined social approach” to the crime problem in their community, insisting that while there is fear of crime, they will not allow their community to collapse due to violence.

At an emotional town forum held at the Kemp Road Ministries Church last night, scores of local residents pleaded with National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade and a number of area pastors to include more social initiatives into their crime fighting techniques.

Dominique Mortimer, a single mother of ten, said she attended last evening’s forum with one goal in mind – “to use this opportunity to tell the country that people out there are truly struggling”.

Ms Mortimer indicated that her push to end her abusive marriage has left her in a state of confusion and despair.

She explained that as of last night, only one of her 10 children, all of whom are of school age, has been able to attend school because she could not afford to send them all.

“I had to prioritise,” she said. Ms Mortimer added that while the concept of no food, no work and no hope might be just an idea or thing to some, it is an everyday reality to her.

“I had to leave them home tonight, hungry. I sent for noodles before I came here just for them to get by on. It is rough out there. Yes, sometimes I leave them home by themselves, sometime to go out there and hustle because I know if I don’t we are all going to wither up like flowers.”

According to residents, the lack of jobs, education and strong family values has allowed the once “safe and close-knit” community to slip into chaos.

The chairman of the Kemp Road Community Development Association, Rita Thompson, explained that the government’s “one-sided crime approach” has done little to fix the “multitude of issues that exist” in the Kemp Road area.

She stated that in addition to crime, residents are being left to raise families in “horrific” substandard conditions, that could easily be corrected if the government and police visited the community more often.

The Abraham Street resident called on the government to consider reopening the St Anne’s community clinic, renew its funding of the Community Development Association and build a larger Urban Renewal Centre, arguing that these moves should lead to the resurgence of the community.

Organisers of last evening’s forum indicated that the initiative was a direct response to past and current problems that cripple urban communities such as the Kemp Road area.

John Mackey, a 85-year-old life-long resident of Kemp Road, supported Ms Thompson’s position, labelling the issue of crime as “idle work”.

The World War 2 veteran explained that young men, who he said were the major contributors to crime, are turning to a lifestyle that has accepted them in and showed them love in a world where love is hard to find.

He said that if the area’s youth had more to aspire to, they wouldn’t find the time to get involved in criminal activities.

The forum, branded the Citizen Security Programme, came as a result of a community walkabout last week.

Dr Nottage said the nearly three-hour-long canvas was aimed at assessing the needs of the residents and then finding the best avenues to address their concerns.

Dr Nottage said a job fair will be held in Kemp Road next Monday, adding that the government would attempt to subsidise certain businesses in the community so they can afford to hire area residents, as a move to lower unemployment.