Stakeholders in Spanish Town, St. Catherine are crediting the work of the police as one of the factors that has contributed to a rebirth of Jamaica’s old capital as a safe place to do business.
Speaking earlier this month at the opening of the New Brunswick Village in Spanish Town, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the town was poised to become Jamaica’s most vibrant neighbourhood for living and doing business.
Similar sentiments have been shared by the MP for Central St. Catherine, Olivia Grange.
In April while speaking at the opening of a new Island Grill location at the complex, Miss Grange said Spanish Town was being transformed, with new and expanded businesses, infrastructure projects and revitalisation of communities.
Daina Davy reports.
The old capital has been plagued by gang violence and extortion over many decades.
In recent years, the Jamaica Constabulary Force has made significant gains in their efforts to dismantle different factions of the feared Klansman gang.
The Klansman and One Order gangs have wreaked havoc on Spanish Town, with both running highly organised extortion rings that held much of the business district in a vice-like grip.
Several members of the Klansman gang have been brought before the courts and convicted, while some have been killed in gun battles with the police.
The latest incident in April led to the fatal shooting of a reputed leader of the gang, Sheldon Walters, otherwise called ‘Termite’.
President of the St Catherine Chamber of Commerce, Dennis Robotham is crediting the work of the JCF in its community policing approach.
Mr. Robotham says the redevelopment has been years in the making.
The owner of Press Box Printers, John Lopez, believes investors have been attracted to Spanish Town by the steady reduction in major crimes over the years.
And the Mayor of Spanish Town, Norman Scott, says the rebirth of the capital is the outcome of work that began more than 10 years ago.
Mayor Scott has been in the position in Spanish Town for the last 12 years.
He is renewing his pledge to the people to return cleanliness and order to a town badly in need of strong administration.
Norman Scott, Mayor of Spanish Town speaking on Nationwide This Morning on Tuesday.
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