THE negative impact of the Jamaica Public Service’s current load shedding, the need for a more visible police presence, and the long standing issue of traffic congestion in the western city are among the issues that the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry intends to tackle in the coming year.

These issues were outlined on Wednesday after developer, Mark Kerr-Jarrett, who was the only nominee for the position, was re-elected as president.

“We can no longer afford it,” he said of the scheduled power interruptions now being experienced across the island. “It shows a lack of forward planning by the JPS.”

Local manufacturers have complained, in the past, about the losses being incurred as a result of the interruptions caused by the power outages. Indications are that the load shedding will continue until the end of the month.

On his attention to the police’s performance in the resort city, Kerr-Jarrett said that a request would be made for additional coverage.

“We’re going to request that the 70 officers who were here for Spring Break be placed here on a regular basis,” he said.

The police recently implemented a programme that provides coverage to zoned areas of the city, by using a cadre of motor vehicles plus 20 motorcycles. This blanketing is to fill the gap that will be left by the closure of the Church Street and Summit police stations.

“What we now have to monitor is if we still get the service and the protection we used to get,” Kerr-Jarrett said. “They say the service and response time will improve, and I urge members to monitor their activities — both good and bad — and report back to the chamber. Performance has to be delivered, we can’t have a downgrading of services rendered.”

The chamber will also continue to pursue their long-standing goal of finding a solution to the traffic congestion that plagues the city.

“(Over the past year) the infrastructure committee developed and presented a new traffic flow and one way system for the city to the parish traffic committee,” infrastructure committee chairman, Cecil Chuck, said in his report. “However, little has come of this and it still resides in the offices of the St James Parish Council.”

The chamber has long expressed concern about the man-hours lost, and the delay to tour buses as a result of the traffic snarls that plague the city. But with three major infrastructural projects under way, the problem appears insurmountable at this time.

The chamber’s executive also includes Pauline Reid as 1st vice-president; Angella Whitter, 2nd vice-president and Maria Ho Sue, 3rd vice-president.

The directors are: businesswoman, Kaleith Solomon; hotelier, Heinz Simonitsch; banker, Stephen Dear; in-bond merchant, Kumar Santani; contractor, Cecil Chuck; businessman, Anthony Pearson; public relations executive, Verona Carter and hotelier Horace Peterkin