PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Superintendent in charge of the Portland Police Division Lloyd Darby has put residents on notice that they may still be prosecuted for their role in recent protests staged in the eastern end of the parish.

“While citizens have a right to legally demonstrate by applying to the police if you want to have a march or if they want to stand by the roadside and picket and share their grouses, it is illegal to block the road and prevent persons from going about their lawful business as demonstrated on May 1 and May 8,” Darby said.

“The police were not able to make arrests on those days, but the police made video tapes of persons blocking the road and we are sitting down looking at those tapes with a view of prosecuting persons who are found in breach,” he said.

Residents took to the streets to vent their frustration over a lack of water in the pipes and a persistent dust nuisance from ongoing roadwork. They lit debris used to block the road and played a cat-and-mouse game with police and soldiers who tried to restore order.

Addressing the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on May 11, minister with responsibility for water, Matthew Samuda and Member of Parliament for Portland Western Daryl Vaz announced measures to ease some of the water woes for the residents, even as they warned that the ongoing drought will continue to provide challenges.

Vaz also apologised for the inconvenience being experienced by residents in the constituency represented by his wife, Ann-Marie Vaz.

“I want to apologise for the inconvenience, as a Member of Parliament,” he said. “Despite the fact that we, as Members of Parliament, have no input, the people that we serve are suffering the most and I want to unreservedly apologise in relation to the situation,” he said.