Sitting ducks

Arthur Hall and Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writers

The two main criminal organisations operating out of Spanish Town, St Catherine, the Clansman and One Order gangs, are believed to be behind the spate of killings in Tredegar Park and neighbouring Gravel Heights over the past three years, which have left law-abiding residents trembling.

Already, more than 200 persons have moved out of the two communities - which totals less than 600 residents - in the past three years, and now, others are ready to follow suit.

Those who plan to stay are looking for schools for their children to ensure that the young ones do not have to return to the Tredegar Park Primary School, which is smack in the middle of the battlefield.

"The attendance of school will be affected, as parents are already transferring their children to other schools due to the violence in the community," Hyacinth Rochester, principal of Tredegar Park Primary School, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Decline in registration

Rochester said the registration of students for all grades had fallen significantly.

According to Rochester, at grade one, the school had 60 spaces, but fewer than 20 children have registered.

But that is not surprising, as the school has had to suspend classes on several occasions because of the gun violence.

"I remember during the Grade Six Achievement Test, we had to abort school because the school ground became a battlefield," Rochester said.

She was supported by a resident who noted that during a flare-up of violence in June, her children were deprived of the opportunity to learn.

"My children could not go to school for days due to the gunman dem. It is the children who are really hurting," she added.