Residents of Annotto Bay, South East St Mary have said that they are fed up with the high level of criminal activities now taking place in the community.

They expressed this sentiment when they joined Minister of National Security Peter Bunting, their Member of Parliament, Dr Winston Green and several other key stakeholders and political representatives in a peace march through the town last Wednesday.

The march ended at the St Theresa’s Roman Catholic Church where a community meeting was held. At the meeting, key stakeholders spoke of the number of issues facing the community. Wednesday’s march came just over a week after a double killing in the community arising from a domestic dispute.

Camille Bell of Merry Trust Lane, Annotto Bay and 36-year-old Miguel Campbell, otherwise called ‘Blacks’, of Aleppo, near Highgate, were shot and killed by a man police identified as O’Neil Anderson whom the law enforcers later shot and killed. All of that occurred on Monday, January 12.

Local police have reported an increase in criminal activities in the area in recent time.

Newly appointed head of the parish’s police division, Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, who told the meeting that she had been in the parish for only four days prior to the march, highlighted the need for intervention in Annotto Bay. She pointed out to stakeholders at the community meeting that Annotto Bay is the only classified hotspot in St Mary as it is an area where several criminal activities take place.

With the area classified as a major contributor to crime in the parish, persons from various areas called on citizens to do their part to solve the problem.

Chairman of the St Mary Parish Council and Mayor of Port Maria, Levan Freeman was among those who urged citizens to work with the police to fight crime and violence in their community.

“I beseech the citizenry of Annotto Bay to cooperate with the security forces,” Freeman said.

“A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Work to rid Annotto Bay of any illicit activities taking place,” he urged the residents. While he called for citizens to partner with the police, Freeman also encouraged parents to instill positive values at places of residence, as according to him “discipline starts at home.”

Councillor for the Annotto Bay Division of the St Mary Parish Council Dane Golding also made pleas for citizens to join the fight against crime in their community.

“Over a five-year period Annotto Bay would have more murders than many areas in Jamaica,” Golding stated.

“Residents, it is time for us to unite. Don’t allow for it to happen one more time. These are not the situations in which we want to grow up our children,” he Golding stated.

“The police alone cannot do it … the greatest resource is residents talking with each other, talking with the police, talking with the member of parliament, and the councillor,” Golding went on.

In reiterating his call for support from residents, Golding said that he was willing to be the informant taking information to the police if the residents were willing to pass on information to him.

“Tell mi man; I will be the confidante,” he said.

MP Green also echoed calls for partnership with the security forces.

“Every one of us have an obligation to collaborate and cooperate with the police,” he stated, adding that the upsurge of violence in the area affected all.

“As citizens, we must take a stand and take it now by making a pledge to work with these police to stamp out these criminals,” Green said.

The business community was also represented in the March. While businesses are not largely affected by criminal activities in the town, businesswoman Paulette Rose, said that “sooner or later it will fester.

“We have to take charge, we have to say ‘enough is enough’… we should be looking out for each other,” Rose stated.

“As a member of the business community I was born here and I have nowhere going,” she continued, urging residents to stand alongside the police.

However, while she made that call, Rose said that citizens also needed to know that they can trust the police.

“We need to know that when we go to the police they have our backs and then we will have their backs,” she stated.

Minister of National Security Peter Bunting also called for partnerships in the fight against crime.

“One of the mistakes many Jamaicans make is to believe that if they themselves are not gang members, then they are safe. You are mistaken. That’s far from the truth,” he said.

“Don’t turn a blind eye. You may not be the perpetrator, you may not be the one involved, but you may be a neighbour and you may become a victim,” he stressed.

Bunting also repeated calls for more community policing.

“It is really a time for proximity policing. The police should not be at the station waiting for a call,” he said, urging the police to get more involved in community activities.

While there were calls for partnerships, several persons highlighted that there were many factors influencing the high level of crime in the area. Among them were unemployment and poverty.

Additionally, Parish Manager for the Social Development Commission (SDC) Travis Graham pointed out that the town lacked several key institutions. According to Graham, there is no HEART Trust/NTA skills training centre in the area or a centre for the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning.

He also pointed out that there were no Registrar General’s Department or passport offices in St Mary.