THE EDITOR, Sir:I AM a young Jamaican and like many, it has always been my dream to own my own home. Last December, I attained this dream and acquired a home at one of the apartment complexes on Kensington Crescent, Kingston 5.
However, the joy of owning my own home soon gave way to frustration, anger and now borders on the edge of desperation.
I can only describe the noise pollution that emits from Carlos' Cafe, Worthington Avenue, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights into early the following mornings and sometimes from Sunday night into early Monday morning as oppression of the worst kind.
Many law-abiding citizens like myself who contribute so significantly to the economy of this nation are denied precious sleep and rest by a lawless and indisciplined few. Phone calls appealing to the Cafe's management to lower the volume have continuously fallen on deaf ears. In fact, phone calls to the 119 Emergency Number as well as to the nearby Cross Roads and Half-Way Tree police stations also seem to go the same way, as despite several calls to both stations last Sunday, February 10 between the hours of 12:15 and 1:30 a.m., the noise blared on, punctured at intervals by patrons screaming in support.
Friends and acquaintances with whom I have shared my dilemma have commented that I will be fighting a losing battle.
I am now seriously beginning to wonder if this is in fact so, as the staff from the stations mentioned seem not just incapable, but unwilling to take the steps required to finally resolve the problem. Is it not the Police who are required to uphold the law and defend the law-abiding from the lawless?
I was raised to believe so, but recent events have put doubts in the minds of myself as well as members of my family, who live outside of Kingston, and who often overnight with me on a weekend and also suffer the same indignity. If law-enforcers are impotent in the face of wanton lawlessness, then what hope is there for the defenceless citizen?
I am, etc.,
JANELLE BROWN
Kingston 5
