OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Some residents in Alexandria and surrounding communities are fuming after prisoners allegedly used fire to destroy a cell at Alexandria Police Station in St Ann on Monday evening.

“This is just terrible because in the middle of a pandemic it’s going to cost the Government to fix the cell when that money could be used to fund a project in the community or help out persons in need,” Alexandria resident Kimeko Green told the Jamaica Observer.

She was also concerned that the fallout from the fire may hamper the police’s crime-fighting efforts.

“This is not good news for any of us here in Alexandria because the cells are at the station for a reason. [If] they don’t have a sufficient amount of holding area it would push back the amount of criminal they can lock up,” she theorised.

The cell was allegedly set ablaze by prisoners it housed. There was no extensive damage to the rest of the building and no one was injured.

One man from Old Bethany in the area, who did not want to be identified by name, shared Green’s concerns about safety. It is time, he said, for residents to be more cautious than ever.

“Right now mi have to wonder what them up to because why them would be inside a burn down station? Them must have plan,” he said. “Mi concerned about this, man, because criminals and gunman brazen these days. When them hear that police nuh have enough space to hold them that is more reason for them to come out and torment wi. Right now a just we have to look out for them more than anything else.”

The 10 prisoners who were being held in the now burnt-out cell are reportedly now at the Ocho Rios lock-up.

The thought of the police having to travel the four-hour round trip each time they have a new prisoner is of concern to Angela. She lives in Murray Mountain, approximately eight miles away from Alexandria Police Station. Her fear is that the police, because of the need to travel to Ocho Rios, may not be able to respond to criminal activities in her community in a timely manner.

“This is just a lot for residents because the police will have to drive to Brown’s Town or Ochi and if anything happen up here there will possibly be no vehicles available to serve us,” she told the Observer. “Them do a wrong thing to burn down the cell. Right now everyone will feel [it] because police won’t be able to serve the communities properly.”