PORUS, Manchester — Business operators, residents and political representatives are criticising the leadership of the Manchester police for its handling of a curfew imposed in parts of Porus last week, leaving people in the dark as to when it will end.

The curfew was initially imposed at 6:00 pm on Sunday, September 7 and was to last for two days. However, there has been no formal communication since then as to when the curfew will end.

Councillor Claudia Morant- Baker (Jamaica Labour Party, Porus Division) and Councillor Mario Mitchell (People’s National Party, Bellefield Division) raised concerns about what they consider to be poor communication by the police at last Thursday’s sitting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation.

Morant-Baker said the uncertainty is affecting the livelihood of residents.

“As I listen to the different stakeholders, I always say as a political directorate, a councillor who is the head of their respected division, voted and selected by the people to represent them, communicate with us,” she urged the police.

“People are asking, ‘Is curfew on in Porus? What are the days [and] the times?’ We would like that information to flow among us. For how long [will] the curfew continue?” Morant-Baker asked.

Mandeville Mayor Donovan Mitchell also raised concerns over the communication gap between the police and the people.

“My division, the Royal Flat Division, goes as far as Trinity which is a part of the police district of Porus… I didn’t know there was a curfew in the area. I think the police owe us, you can spell it out to the media, but even send a
WhatsApp. The police know our numbers. [The Social Development Commission] is where they have citizen associations and groups [and you could] send a message to them, so at least all persons involved would know that something is happening,” he said.

“The communication network from the police has to be a little bit better when it comes on to aspects of that,” added Mitchell.

In response, Inspector Berthlyn Lloyd, the sub-officer in charge of the Manchester Community Safety and Security Branch, promised to relay the concerns to her commanding officer, Superintendent Carey Duncan.

She pointed to two recent murders in the area and intelligence of violence in Porus as the reason for the curfew.

“Yes, there were two murders and from what is happening and from information coming to the police these murders are as a result of the incidents that were occurring in the latter part of last year,” she said.

“The measures [curfew] have been put in place for now, so until the situation is properly under control I believe the curfew will still be on, but I will ensure that I report to the superintendent that the relevant communication be made, so that persons can be properly informed,” added Lloyd.

There was a sense of déjà vu among business operators and residents in Porus on Monday when the Jamaica Observer visited the south-central town. This as the area was previously under curfew for close to seven months earlier this year.

Wayne Miller, who operates Jus Chicken & Things restaurant neighbouring Porus police station, is calling for a review of the curfew hours.

“A couple months ago the curfew lasted for about seven months, it affected us and I tried to keep the staff and now it starts again [and] it is back-to-school now… Six o’clock in the evening is when people come from work and would grab something to eat and stuff like that, so it has a lot of impact on the business,” Miller said.

“If they could give us up to, let’s say nine o’clock and they patrol the streets… that would be reasonable. We all try to obey the curfew hours. Whenever curfew happens it impacts everybody,” he said while pointing out that the majority of residents are law-abiding.

“Porus is a very peaceful town. I don’t know where this [violence] is coming from,” said Miller.

A proprietor at Whole Life Pharmacy situated across from the restaurant said people who depend on life-saving medication are severely affected by the curfew.

“We have been trending downwards, because we used to close at 9:00 pm and now we are closing at 6:00 pm, based on the present curfew. It affects the service delivery that we offer to our clients, especially those who travel from the hills. They are also impacted by the transportation in even reaching here,” the proprietor said, adding that asthmatic clients have to go to Mandeville or May Pen to source items such as inhalers.

“Say they are without an inhaler and the doctor prescribed it, if they can’t reach here it may impact whether you survive or not. A person runs out of pressure medication, it may take some while before they reach another pharmacy,” the pharmacy proprietor said.

“We need to see better communication and feedback from the police and maybe other authorities involved in that decision-making. Let us know how long it will be on for, basically the time frame. It only comes on the media for when it is introduced, but then after you only see someone turn up and say you have to close now. People can be on their way here and we have to close and it may put their health at risk,” added the proprietor.

A short distance away on Main Street in Porus a group of barbers and a hairdresser stood outside a salon expressing their frustration with the curfew.

“The lockdown affects everybody again. We were in it for seven months and then another crime took place again. The police did say if any shooting took place they would lock down, but as far as I am concerned I don’t see why the whole community should be suffering,” said one of the barbers.

“There wasn’t anything productive out of the last curfew. We didn’t hear of any arrests or guns seized, nothing at all. The only thing that happens is the community lockdown and the people suffer. Porus became a ghost town and the same thing is going to happen again,” he added.

He said the police shouldn’t let the good suffer for “the few bad” in the area.

“…. Most business people in Porus rely on people coming home from work and they stop in the supermarket, bar, and hairdresser, so when you have to close by six o’clock it just not working out,” he said.

“We don’t even know how long this will last for. The police are not communicating with the people. They are not informing anybody. All you see is blue light saying ‘lock up’ and that’s it. They need to come and talk to the community. Have a community meeting. You can’t just force things on people without any form of information,” he added.

The barber, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, also questioned the boundaries of the curfew.

“They say the boundaries are from Trinity, Clark’s Town and Redberry to Barnett, but yet still they are locking down everywhere up there so,” he said in reference to Main Street in Porus, Battersea, Coffee Grove, Old Porus, Spring Grove, and Berrydale communities.

“Those places are not in what they initially said about the curfew. The police will come and tell us ‘the big man a Mandeville say the whole town fi lock down’. The police do what they feel like,” he added.

Another business operator in Porus claimed that there was a lack of financial help from the authorities.

“The curfew a mash we up right now already and we can’t go through that. Nobody nah compensate us for this lockdown,” he said.

Wayne Miller operates Jus Chicken & Things restaurant in Porus. He is calling for a review of the curfew hours.

Councillor Claudia-Morant Baker (Jamaica Labour Party, Porus Division) addressing the Manchester Municipal Corporation’s sitting last Thursday.