ST JAMES, Jamaica — Scores of business operators, civilians and taxi operators in St James are expressing support for the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s public order restoration project currently underway in the parish. According to them, they have already seen a change in the city since the start of the 14-day initiative in Montego Bay.

Launched on Monday, August 15, the project aims to curb chronic disorder among the general public. It is a joint effort seeing the JCF partnering with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), St James Municipal Corporation, Transport Authority, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and Ministry of Health.

According to a release on Friday, stakeholders are lauding the efforts of law enforcement to maintain cleanliness and order in a parish known for its scenic beauty and exciting tourist attractions.

Regional Director of the Jamaica Tourist Board, Odette Soberam-Dyer says “it’s a wonderful initiative by the police taking the lead on this. It was necessary as it is timely to restore public order not just in Montego Bay, not just in the city but throughout Jamaica.”

Having seen the support for the police firsthand, Soberam-Dyer committed to pumping whatever support the JTB can garner into the initiative.

The JCF believes that by curbing petty crimes like illegal vending and taxi operating, theft and others, there will be a decrease in major crimes. Commanding Officer for the St James Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Vernon Ellis, believes that in order for such an operation to be successful, it must be carried forward in the long term.

“The reality is two weeks or three months won’t lead to that significant change, so we’re looking at sustaining the operation beyond 90 days,” he said.

SSP Ellis went on to share that part of the new protocols will see vendors wearing colour-coded markings to denote the vending zones to which they belong.

“We’re getting support from TPDCo and some other agencies to regulate persons. We’re getting colour-coded bibs for them through these agencies, and alpha-numeric codes for their bibs and the lanes they will operate, so we’re getting the parish council to regularize persons,” he expressed also revealing that

He also revealed that a multi-agency approach will be employed to ensure that the old negative practices do not re-emerge.

“We’re also looking at how to – through the multi-agency approach – teach persons to self-regulate so we can scale down the number of officers we have to utilise,” he said.

“We’re bringing in some force multipliers like the surveillance units and police station for the township itself, so when those elements are put in place within the next 14 days we will see some significant transformation of the space,” he added.