No letting up
Published:Friday | October 15, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The police have vowed to maintain a strong presence in downtown Kingston and other sections of west Kingston after a tension-filled day yesterday.
With members of the security forces carrying out their vow to remove stalls illegally placed in sections of the market district, there was drama aplenty as some vendors reacted angrily.
The police operation started shortly after 1 o'clock yesterday morning and coincided with a curfew imposed in sections of nearby Denham Town and Hannah Town.
But by daybreak, there were clear indications of the disagreement that would mar operations in the market district for most of the day.
"Me come out yah 4 o'clock and when me reach me stall, me see all o' de things dem mash up and a pure debris me see," one vendor on Heywood Street told The Gleaner.
"Me pay $2,500 fi register and $500 a week fi market fee and me deh here fi 24 years and a dis dem do to me. How dem expect me fi send me pickney dem to school when dem destroy me goods?" said the irate vendor, who was supported by several colleagues.
Other vendors claimed they had lost goods valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars when the police used heavy-duty equipment to clear what was once a busy market area with stalls stretching into the middle of the street.
And even as the Heywood Street vendors voiced their anger, others who plied their wares on West Queen and Princess streets decided to take action.
The angry vendors first decided to march to the offices of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation on nearby Church Street.
When they were prevented from carrying out that march by a strong detachment of police, they decided to vent their anger on storeowners.
According to the street-side vendors, if they were not allowed to sell, the stores would also have to close their doors.
"No vendors, no store, no vendors, no store," they chanted as they banged on the shutters of some stores and demanded that they be closed.
But a police team led by Superintendent Terrence Bent was quick on the scene to assure the business operators that it was safe to keep their shutters up.
"You can keep the stores open. We are here to protect you," declared one policeman as he addressed operators of a store on Princess Street.
Other personnel from the police force, including its director of communications Karl Angell, also promised that the operation would continue as long as necessary.
"So far, a number of streets have been cleared of debris and illegal vending material by the police," Angell told The Gleaner.
"These streets were cleared using police heavy-duty transport equipment and it is estimated that so far, approximately 10 tons of debris and other material have been cleared from the operational area," Angell added shortly after midday.
He said personnel from the Jamaica Public Service Company, who were part of the operations, identified and disconnected more than 300 illegal connections in the market district.
According to Angell, the police are determined to ensure that law and order is maintained in downtown Kingston.
"The rule of law must be accommodated by all and sundry and the police will ensure that a presence is here in downtown Kingston and the curfew that is now in place will be fully enforced as of 7 p.m today (Thursday)," Angell said.
Up to late yesterday, the police were reporting that 48 people had been detained and a Bushmaster rifle seized in the area under curfew.
The boundaries of the curfew are:
NORTH along Asquith Street on to Studley Park Road between East and Slipe Pen roads
SOUTH along Barry Street from Darling Street to Church Street
EAST along Slipe Pen Road on to North Street to Church Street continue to Barry Street
WEST along Darling Street on to Spanish Town Road continue on to Little King Street to East Road.