KINGSTON, Jamaica — Representatives at Tarrant Primary Schools say student and teacher safety has increased exponentially following a de-bushing project carried out by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) on Tuesday.

“We have a lot of criminal challenges [in] that area, we have people who will ride the bikes over and they are hidden by the bushes; they come and they try to harm even the children and the parents,” explained Principal of Tarrant Primary School, Hadajah Freebourne-Raffington.

Freebourne-Raffington said the robberies had been ongoing for some time, “We have had many incidents over time. As a matter of fact, come Friday, my parents from this school and the high school were putting together to do the cleaning…Trust me, I am overwhelmed and I am happy.”

The Tarrant project is one of several ongoing clean-ups being carried out under the Clean-up Kingston Initiative.

The drive aims to provide not just cleaner communities but safer communities as well, according to Alrick Francis, city inspector at the KSAMC.

“We have been working with the communities— they have been working with us. They have welcomed the initiative that we are doing because they too want their community to be clean,” he explained.

Regarding the plot of land in Tarrant, Francis explained that the landowner had been written up on several occasions about the state of the lot, but had been non-compliant.

Francis was on site in Thompson Boulevard, Waterhouse, where another clean-up was taking place. He explained why the project was urgently needed.

“Solid Waste is unable to traverse this particular road to pick up garbage and just a few weeks ago, a couple of chains from where I am standing now, there was a major fire. A resident had been totally wiped out, the fire truck could not access the road again because of the [trash],” Francis said.

Other areas that have been cleaned so far include Bob Marley Boulevard in Cooreville Gardens.