Tony Gallimore catches 'Community Buzz'

Gallimore co-hosts Community Buzz with Samantha Waugh from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays to Fridays. It replaced The Corner, which was co-hosted by Stephen Golding and Empress.

"In a way we're doing the same thing but it's less political; it's more of a people thing," Gallimore said. "You hear negative things about people in these areas but since I've been doing the show it has opened my eyes to a lot of things," he added.

Each week, Gallimore and Waugh put the spotlight on some of the toughest areas in Jamaica. To date, they have visited the Spoilers area of Central Kingston, Central Village in St Catherine and Flankers in Montego Bay.

Gallimore says their discussions with residents are usually the same. "They talk a lot about unemployment and lack of representation by politicians, and that's really frustrating for them," Gallimore explained. He added that contrary to popular belief, many of the residents are up to date on current national issues, but are determined to lift their communities without the assistance of politicians.

"They are actually working to improve their situation. There are homework centres and people are looking to build better relations with the police and the Church," Gallimore said.

Spoilers, Central Village and Flankers have been scarred for many years by gang and political violence.

The Community Buzz has also looked at development in the Ferry section along Mandela Highway and the seaside town of Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.

While Gallimore's new show is punctuated by music, it has a distinctly different flavour from Saturday Night Takeover, the late-night show he hosted on News Talk 93 FM (then known as Radio Mona), starting in 2007. Saturday Night Takeover was built around the cutting-edge reggae and hip-hop sounds Gallimore played while he was a disc jockey with the London-based Greenwich Community Radio network.

Gallimore also played on several pirate stations while living in Britain.