May Pen Mayor pleased with declining crime rate

Some months ago, Clarendon was being labelled as one of the bloodiest parishes in the country, and at a point 10 murders were being recorded in the parish in just one week. Even when the police and military stepped up policing in the area, the crime rate still spiralled.

However, for the past few months, the central parish must be commended for the decline in the crime rate, and according to Mayor Winston Maragh, social intervention for the community's youth has contributed to the changes.

The mayor said that these results are coming out of a collaborative effort between himself and various youth-driven agencies in the area.

"We have been doing a lot of interventions in those areas that we called 'troubled' communities. We have a lot of agencies that have been going into these places and speaking to the youths about options that are beneficial to their lives, and so far these have been contributing to a decrease of crime," he said.

HAVE CONFIDENCE

"We still have one or two shootings in the parish and we probably won't see the best results yet, but I have confidence that programmes like these will greatly impact our youngsters," he added.

As at September 15, murders in Clarendon dipped by 14 per cent when compared with the same period last year. This is a decline from 118 to 104 murders.

Among the agencies involved in the process are the Jamaica Youth Business Trust, Social Development Commission, HEART Trust/NTA and the PIOJ's Community Renewal Programme. The programmes tackle hotspots such as Lionel Town, Bucknor, Rocky Point, May Pen and Hayes area that are known for frequent murders, shootings and robberies.

"We are seeking youths in these areas who can be trained in entrepreneurship, and we are identifying funds from some of these agencies that are also offering loans to some of the youths. We are targeting as much youth as possible, so now we are screening and training them," he said.

Maragh said that the youngsters have been responding positively to the available programmes.

"We have had a lot of people coming out to these meetings, and we had one session last week and we had a full room. We had another one in Rocky Point, and it was full house as well. We are just deciding who is to go where, and today (yesterday) 100 of these youths will be attending orientation at Heart Trust and other entities," he said.