By Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterPROPERTY OWNERS and business operators in New Kingston are calling on the Government and the municipal authority to stem what they have described as the gradual decay of the commercial district.
Rachael Gore, general manager of the New Kingston Civic Association (NKCA), a non-profit organisation that represents about 50 per cent of New Kingston property owners, told the Financial Gleaner that standards once associated with the area have definitely fallen and something needs to be done.
"It is not where it used to be... the overriding concerns lie with the street people, the high level of harassment and the general lack of order that is creeping in," she explained.
Ms. Gore noted that the nation's major corporate and business district was under siege from substance abusers, prostitutes, vagrants and illegal vendors, which is compounded by parking and drainage problems. However, she maintained that New Kingston still boasts more good than bad.
Jacqueline Knight-Campbell, public relations director at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, which is a member of the NKCA, concurred that the current state of the commercial district is alarming. "Of course, we are concerned," she said adamantly. "As a hotel we are concerned and any major food and beverage institution would be concerned."
Ms. Gore stressed that some action must be taken to nip the disintegration in the bud before it becomes interminable. "The concern is that if it is not abated it will become a permanent fixture and practice," Ms. Gore said.
She added that her organisation, which is mandated to promote a better New Kingston, is willing to play its part in returning the area to its former glory.
As a result, the members of the non-profit organisation are calling on the authorities to step up to the plate. "We are appealing to the powers that be because New Kingston is a great little centre and it has a lot to offer. The organisation is willing to work with the authorities to maintain a well-managed business district and city centre," said Ms. Gore.
Mrs. Knight-Campbell added that the Hilton Hotel is proactively playing its part to return New Kingston to its former glory, strengthening the cry for help. "We don't sit and wait on external organisations, we take our measures but some of the responsibilities lie with the Government and we are encouraging the Government to step in and do their part through the relevant agencies," she said.
On the other hand, Helen Allison-Minott, public relations specialist at MiPhone, took an unpopular stance. She said that while the issues highlighted are a cause for concern it is just a mirror of what is happening in other sectors of the society. "It is no more or less than anywhere else (but) because it is in the Corporate Area it should be more policed," she said.
Mrs. Allison-Minott said that her concern is for the nation at large and not for a particular corporate zone and as a result she is not just requisitioning help from solely the Government, but she is summoning all Jamaicans to play their part.
