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Heroy Clarke seeks to rid Salt Spring of criminals

Published:Monday | January 31, 2022 | 12:05 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
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From left: Norma Brydson, principal, Salt Spring Primary and Infant School, cuts the ribbon with Dr Horace Chang, minister of national security; Fayval Williams, minister of education; Heroy Clarke, member of parliament, St James Central; Dr Wayne Henry, c
Ashley Anguin
From left: Norma Brydson, principal, Salt Spring Primary and Infant School, cuts the ribbon with Dr Horace Chang, minister of national security; Fayval Williams, minister of education; Heroy Clarke, member of parliament, St James Central; Dr Wayne Henry, chairman, Jamaica Social Investment Fund and director general, Planning Institute of Jamaica; and Marianne Van Steen, head of delegation of the European Union, at the official handover ceremony of the Integrated Community Development Project Salt Spring Safe Passage Project at the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School in St James.
A section of the guard rails and sidewalk in the vicinity of the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School in St James. The sidewalk and rails were among the new facilities created as part of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s Salt Spring Safe Passage Proj
Ashley Anguin
A section of the guard rails and sidewalk in the vicinity of the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School in St James. The sidewalk and rails were among the new facilities created as part of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s Salt Spring Safe Passage Project.
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WESTERN BUREAU:

Impaired by decades of internal gang feuds, Heroy Clarke, the St James central member of parliament, has said he will not rest until the community of Salt Spring is transformed into a safe passage that is free from criminal elements.

He said more help is needed, as the work that is now required to advance the transformation of the community will need to come from the residents and supported by investments from corporate Jamaica and where possible, international donors.

“We want to be the pilot project for safety. We want to make sure that when the kids are out on the street walking to school and walking back from school, it’s not only the vehicular traffic that they have to worry about, but the menace in our society today that is causing mayhem among us,” Clarke said.

He was speaking at the official hand over ceremony for the Integrated Community Development II – Safe Passage Project at the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School in his constituency on Thursday.

“This is just a springboard for greater things to come, we have other phases, we have other projects to come on stream and I will not rest,” the firebrand MP assured. “We want our kids. We want our residents to be safe, so today is just the embryonic stage of the situation wherein, we start here, but we’re not going to finish here.”

LOTS OF WORK TO DO

According to Clarke, Salt Spring in recent years has made a slight turn from its war-torn days with gang feuds. However, he said there is still a lot of work to be done, as he pilots the community towards a safe passage for all.

“I know what Salt Spring was, and what Salt Spring is, but what we want Salt Spring to be and so the work is here for us to do,” he noted.

“We won’t be able to do it alone and, therefore, we encourage, we implore, we beseech those in authority, those who have it to assist us, to support us, because we need it,” Clarke pleaded.

The safe passage space consists of 400 metres of sidewalk, designed to provide a safe environment from vehicular traffic for students, as they travel from Meggie Top Square in Salt Spring towards the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School and the Hartsfield Basic School.

Two bus bays were constructed, along with the installation of 400 metres of guardrails, six road signs, a vending stall, painting of the sidewalk and wall murals by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth, Ministry of Transport, the St James Municipal Corporation, and the Salt Spring and Barrett Town community development committees at a cost of $14 million. It will benefit 210 students and the wider community of approximately 10,000 residents. Funding for the project was provided by the European Union.