MAY PEN, Clarendon – Commercial activities came to a halt in May Pen, Clarendon and Old Harbour, St Catherine yesterday as hundreds of business operators closed their doors and took to the street to vent their disgust at the rate of crime and violence.

In the usually bustling town of May Pen – the Clarendon capital – several business operators heeded the call of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce and Industry to pull their shutters for three hours to protest last weekend’s double murder of 70 year-old businessman Maurice Azan and his 50 year-old stepson Lloyd Phang at Azan’s One Stop Supermarket and Wholesale on Muir Park Avenue in the town.

In Old Harbour, even bars that would normally be bustling with activities on a Thursday afternoon closed their businesses to show their support that they, too, were fed up with the high crime rate.

Several of the town’s merchants, headed by the immediate past president of the St Catherine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rudolph Green and newly installed president Dennis Robotham, who braved the heavy downpour, participated in a candle light service in the heart of the town, as they denounced crime and violence.

“United we stand, the safer we feel”; “How can you kill the hand that feed you”; “Citizens take a stand and call Kingfish”, read some of the banners carried by the business operators.

“We have decided that enough is enough and we cannot stand up to any more crime and extortion that is taking place. We are sandwiched between May Pen and Spanish Town, we don’t want the criminals here,” said Old Harbour businesswoman Yvonne Lindo.