BOASTING some new and architecturally stunning commercial complexes, May Pen – the hub of commercial activity in Central Clarendon – is slowly resembling a modern-day inland town.

Gaming casinos, high-end eateries, retail and wholesale businesses and a few dazzling department stores have helped to give the Clarendon capital a refreshingly up-to-date look, making the town hard to recognise from a decade ago.

Nonetheless, residents of May Pen and its environs, complain that Central Clarendon still has a long way to go.

Additionally, they point out that the shiny facade conceals gritty issues like crime and a high unemployment rate lurking beneath the surface. Both business operators and ordinary citizens also point to the parish’s traffic congestion; bad road surfaces and a host of socio-economic issues that they say urgently need to be addressed.

“I would love to see something done to get the crime rate down. But the people need to help the police do the job because they alone cannot do it,” shared Rose-Marie Brown, 43, of West Park in the parish.

In areas like Rectory Land and Effortville, considered hotbeds for criminal activity, paranoia is rampant among residents, many of whom spoke to the Sunday Observer in hushed tones, on condition of anonymity. Many refused to even be photographed.

“Yes, we want development and yes we want jobs, but the crime problem has to be addressed first and foremost. People are living in fear in Clarendon. Mike Henry is a good [Member of Parliament] but we want to hear him speaking about crime in his constituency and taking the right steps to address it,” said one 20-something male resident. “Development is good, but without safe and secure people to work, it all makes no sense.”

Located on the Rio Minho, May Pen has always been described as one of Jamaica’s fast-growing southern towns, boasting an important citrus-processing plant, a rope factory, canneries and a population of more than 57,000 (according to a 2001 census). The renowned Denbigh agricultural showground, which hosts an annual national extravaganza, is a short distance from the town centre. Central Clarendon is also the birthplace of legends like reggae and ska great Fredrick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, lead vocalist of Grammy winners Toots and the Maytals, and home to several historical churches and great houses.

Today, expert town planners say it is the fastest developing town close to Kingston. Some residents fear, however, that the town’s spiralling crime rate could overshadow development efforts. In fact, members of the business community, many of whom have operated stores and other entities in the constituency for decades, told the Sunday Observer that they sometimes feel threatened.

“The crime rate is a problem for everybody. It’s not as bad as it used to be but it needs to be attacked more vigorously by the authorities. We still have to be up on our security,” said Patricia Garrib, assistant manager at the long-serving Maxie Department Store. “The town still needs a variety of things. Sometimes the town area is a bit congested so I think if the place is widened a bit more, that problem will be taken care of.”

Businessman Vincent Williams said he is pleased with the development May Pen has achieved over the past couple years.

“It’s good because it is opening up the town a bit. People say the place, especially this area where my store is, looks like foreign. Change is good,” he said.

Teacher Patrick Howell listed proper street lighting, a bus park and an entertainment complex as some of the

town’s needs.

Over at the May Pen market, where fire destroyed goods worth millions recently, the vendors, including several who lost everything, expressed frustration at the lack of attention being paid to their plight.

“Mi ah bleed inna mi heart right now. Wi lose our things inna the fire and up to now wi don’t hear anything. We need help because the fire burn up all our things and we work hard. We don’t have it and we have children to go to school,” said vendor Beverly Jackson, who lost a variety of items in the blaze, ranging from cattle feed to children’s clothes. “I don’t see anybody, not even the MP, and I have to work to find money to provide for my two children because I don’t want them to come work in the market. I want better for them.”

Added a male vendor of ground provisions: “Right now the market don’t even have a proper gate. There is nothing to help secure our things. It stay bad, and them a charge wi fi fi sell in here.”

Grace Mitchell agreed with her colleagues, observing, however, that some vendors, particularly those who ply their wares on their street-side, contribute to the problem.

“My major concern is the need for rule and order in May Pen, especially in the town area. Too many vendors are blocking up the street and that adds to the problem we are having with congestion. We need some bigger selling areas for the vendors in May Pen because it is a lot of us. Everybody selling nowadays to make a little money,” Mitchell noted.

Hilda Hill, a mother of three, spoke about the need for employment opportunities for idle youth in the parish capital.

“I think the people here need more work. Too much idleness going on with the young people them. Development is good, but you have to create work for people to survive,” Hall said. “The new plazas create a little work, but a whole heap more needs to be done right now.”

According to veteran educator Winston Preddie, principal of the May Pen High School, Central Clarendon has the potential to achieve phenomenal success in the future as long as citizens and state authorities vow to work together.

“There are thousands of Jamaicans who want to come home but they are afraid of the crime. Not just in Clarendon, but in the entire island. If we could get rid of the crime problem, we’d be so much better off because then development would be much easier to achieve. The money the returning residents would bring would do a lot. But right now people have come and gone back because they are afraid of the crime,” said Peddie.