ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Unruly protestors employed the tactic of burning tyres to block key roads in Portmore on Monday, releasing dense palls of smoke and creating a major traffic jam as the bus and taxi operator strike crippled the island.

Senior Superintendent Christopher Phillips, head of the St Catherine South Police, said that at least two fires were lit on different sections of George Lee Boulevard on Monday afternoon as irate demonstrators seemed intent on causing as much chaos and discomfort to the commuting public.

“We put out one fire on the roadway in the vicinity of MegaMart, but what we’re picking up is that there are rogue actors who are going around lighting these fires in other sections of Portmore. We have a report of another fire in the Bayview area but we’ve mobilised a team to deal with these fires and the lawlessness that is being displayed in the area,” Phillips told OBSERVER ONLINE.

SSP Phillips said that seven arrests were made across the division for a number of offences since the start of the strike action.

Egeton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), said that a release from the Cabinet may have “added fuel to the fire” and stoked the chaos and mayhem that is unfolding in the nation’s streets on Monday evening.

“The release from the Cabinet put more fuel to the fire and what we’re seeing now is indicative of the anger of the operators. It is unfortunate, because the release from Cabinet doesn’t speak to the challenges of the sector. We made a request for amnesty, not granted, instead all the release speaks to is lawlessness in the transport sector, but what of the general lawlessness in Jamaica? The problem is everywhere, but the release speaks to arresting us, instead of arresting the problem, ” he said.

The release from the Office of the Prime Minister on Monday announced that the “Cabinet wishes to emphasize that the Government and the country will give no support for lawlessness and disorder and welcomes the significant rejection of today’s protest actions and demands”.

“All well-thinking Jamaicans are concerned that these actions have not only demonstrated a disregard for the need for citizens going about their lawful business, to get to work and school but have also demonstrated complete disdain for law, order and discipline,” the release said.

“We advise persons who have broken the law and as a result, have unpaid tickets, to pay their fines as ticketed.”

Newman said that there is hope that TODSS will be able to broker an agreement with the Minister of Transport.

“There will be a meeting at 8:30 tomorrow at his office, and a team will meet with him, but we cannot say if the operators will stay off the roads during that meeting. I encourage them to hold, but it is really up to them if they plan to end the strike. The Cabinet’s statement skirted the issues, and is a total disrespect to the transport sector,” he said.

Bus and taxi operators took strike action on Monday in protest against their ignored calls for traffic ticket amnesty from the Government. The operators are demanding the amnesty out of frustration over the more punitive road traffic ticketing system and the threat of being carted off to jail by cops because of unpaid tickets, many of which, they believe, were issued unfairly.

Newman condemned the acts of criminality and suggested that there were rogue actors who were using the strike as cover to cause mayhem on the island’s roads.

“We are asking taxi operators to not get involved in criminal activities, we condemn those who are using the shadow of this protest to create chaos and mayhem. I went to Portmore his morning and the operators were in a jovial mood, so I believe that the timing of these fires came after the release from the Cabinet this evening,” Newman said.