A group of 20 men have for the last 12 years spent at least 14 hours each day preparing woodcraft items for sale, at their modest, zinc-framed workshop in the inner-city community of Hannah Town in Kingston.

The group sells on average 20 pieces of woodcraft per week to craft shop retailers in Ocho Rios, Negril and downtown Kingston.

“Not one of these young men has ever been in any run-in with the law,” said Raymond George Young, a 72 year-old woodwork specialist and engineer.

The men see Young as patriarch and woodcraft teacher par excellence, for his unselfish contribution to the group whose ages range between 29 and 38 years old. With lumber, a motor that costs less than $1,200, blade and three working days, the 72 year-old has made a machine for the group that reduces the production time for the woodcraft items by almost 100 per cent.

As the demand for their beautiful woodcraft grows, the team would like to expand their workspace and replace the zinc fence with a more attractive enclosure.

Young said that his machine is superior to other metal varieties, a claim that craftsmen in Rockfort, Admiral Town, West Street and Portmore can substantiate, as they too have used Young’s custom-made carving machines.

Unknowingly, the elder Hannah Town resident has hit at the core of the social aspect of the Government’s anti-crime initiative by empowering inner-city residents to become self sufficient. The theory is simple. Persons who are engaged in meaningful activities are less likely to get involved in criminal activities.

Residents of Hannah Town welcome the idea of income-generating projects. Currently, groups of citizens are engaged in a fish project and more recently a car wash venture. Sonia Britton, president of the Hannah Town Development Committee, said that much more needs to be done to provide sustainable income for the over 2,000 families in Hannah Town.

Plans are in progress to develop the human resource base of the community through skills training and education. Since the introduction of the Government’s new anti-crime initiative, two students from Hannah Town were among 16 inner-city residents who received scholarships from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), in collaboration with the Chetolah Park Primary School conducts a homework programme three days per week. Vanella Howell, a student of Chetolah Park Primary, is one of the 80 students who goes to the centre three times per week to complete his homework.

He says he is taught to write, spell, read, practise mathematics, language studies and science, an opportunity he relishes, as he says, if he was at home, he would use the time to play.

But this is not the only positive impact that the joint police and military troop is having on the Chetolah Park community.

Principal, Harry S Chambers, reported that the school population is rebuilding. He told JIS News that prior to December, violence had prevented some students from attending school, however, up to the end of January, attendance had increased by 20 per cent.

Residents from the wider community also allude to a free and more peaceful environment.

Tanya Henry has been living in Hannah Town for over a decade. She said that before the joint police/military operation, “persons would edge the sidewalk to go to shop, now they are leaving the streets up to midnight”.

Residents were hampered from going about their business, as taxi-operators, fearful for their lives, were not willing to take them home.

Henry also said that Denham Town residents who had stopped visiting Hannah Town now pass through the area. “Everything is just normal,” she added.

The objective of the Ministry of National Security is to retain this normality after the police and army have left these communities. One of the strategies that is being employed to achieve this is social intervention. This involves inter-agency collaboration to empower groups such as the already established woodwork project to start and maintain income-generating projects.

Since the beginning of the new initiative, residents of Hannah Town have formed a community council to identify and find solutions for the social needs of the community and to boost the entrepreneurial spirit that exist in that community. The council is being advised by agencies including the Social Development Commission (SDC), Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the JCF, the JDF and residents.

Meanwhile, the Hannah Town Development Committee said the findings of a recent stakeholders meetings showed that housing, lighting, water and environment needs have been identified as areas to be addressed.

The Ministry of Water and Housing, said recently that it would be carrying out a survey to determine the housing and water needs of Hannah Town.

National Security Minister Peter Phillips, in announcing the new crime initiative in Parliament last December, said that although the Government is committed to implementing appropriate social interventions, its capacity to ameliorate the harsh social and physical conditions in violence-prone communities will be dependent on its ability to restore law and order in those communities.

“The truth is, we cannot guarantee the provision of electricity, garbage collection and other basic services, if the service providers face a very real risk of being robbed when they enter certain communities,” he said.

Gary Griffiths, Deputy Superintendent in charge of the police operation in West Kingston, has in the meantime reported a decline in crime in that area since December 1. He said that although the operation is focusing primarily on Hannah Town, officers are also patrolling other areas including Denham Town, Trench Town, and Federal Gardens.

“We have found that crime on a whole has decreased significantly and we want people to realise that Hannah Town is no different from any other community. We would like to restore it to what it used to be so that people can feel comfortable,” he added.

Courtney Berry, community development officer at the Social Development Commission, said the next stage of the Hannah Town development plan requires the community to form partnerships with relevant agencies, which will fund the different projects.