Waterhouse on fire - Gangsters driving fear into residents

Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Stephanie Lindsay, has urged residents living in communities prone to violence to forge a greater relationship with the police if they are serious about having a crime-free environment.

Lindsay made the call amid cries across Jamaica for an end to rampant violence, particularly murders and shootings.

"The police alone cannot bring peace in the area. The police can only provide security and create an environment, which we have been doing. But, for one, nobody is saying who the people (committing these crime) are, so they continue to do these things and get away with it. The same victims who are fed up, they are not saying," Lindsay said.

Waterhouse in St Andrew is among the communities that have been subjected to high levels of violent crimes in recent times. Last Thursday, six people were shot in two separate incidents in the community.

"A baay innocent people dem come shoot and dem know who and who dem inaa war wid. Mi don't have no johncrow here doing anything, mi family member dem free from dem things yah. I don't know wah go happen, but wi wah peace. Dat's all wi wah," said Mary*, whose relative was shot during one of the incidents. The shooting took place in an area of the community known as Bushmouth. Moments later, gunmen opened fire at a group of people in a section of the community called Lyrics Corner.

SEVERAL SHOOTINGS

For more than a year, the community has been in a tense mood with residents moving about cautiously, in fear of their lives. The bus terminal, located at the intersection of Penwood and Bay Farm roads, has had a number of shooting incidents.

A well-known figure from Wailaz, a section in the community, was shot and killed two weeks ago. His killing has triggered more fear among residents in that section of the community, already tense from an ongoing feud between rival gangs within the area. The violence in Waterhouse has spread as far as into Cuba, which is said to be a relatively quiet area when compared to the other areas in the community.

Anthony Hylton, member of parliament (MP) for St Andrew Western, the constituency in which Waterhouse falls, said that social intervention programmes are critical in solving some of the issues in the community. He said that the newly built Waterhouse Community Centre is important for the development of the community.

"We are building a music studio right now as we speak. Football is also one of several activities we will continue to look at. We have vocational skills training exercise that's open to everyone, and we are about to start a construction training," Hylton said.

"We are aiming to make many of these youngsters employable, which is the area of focus on the social side," Hylton added.

The MP said that declaring a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) in the community could help reduce the levels of violent crimes and bring about change.

"The Government needs to do more. For example, I have been asking for a ZOSO, not the state of emergency, that recognises that we need to have some of the social interventions as well in the area. We need Waterhouse and the other communities like Seaview - which is having its own flare-up right now - to have their social interventions. It is not just heavy policing and repression. The resources given to the Member of Parliament is woefully lacking," he said.