WESTERN BUREAU:
IN RESPONSE to calls by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) for a private sector-led protest against crime, the members of at least two Chambers of Commerce in western Jamaica have rejected the idea of closing their businesses today. They claim such a move will only serve to strengthen
criminals.
"We believe that the move is a bankrupt idea. We are sympathetic to the move but we do not think the lockdown will bring any great results. It is the criminals that we need to get to," said Dennis Seivwright, president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce.
The strongest support for the PSOJ's resolve has come from the Montego Bay business community, which is reporting through the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that most businesses will close their doors at 1:00 p.m.
The chamber has planned a gathering dubbed 'Stand for Jamaica' for Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m.
"The gathering is about us as Jamaicans who are concerned about the direction that the nation is taking, with particular emphasis on the escalation in crime and violence which has to date claimed over 600 lives, each of them special and precious in the sight of God," said Mark Kerr-Jarrett, chamber president.
Negril Chamber President Mark Cummings said that businesses excluding hotels, have been called on to close at 1:00 p.m. A public meeting has been planned for today at 2:00 p.m. at the Norman Manley Sea Park to contemplate the effects of crime on the community.
In St. Elizabeth, similar sentiments were shared by the majority of the members of the St. Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce. Its president, Dr. Marc Panton, told The Gleaner that he had issued more than 300 letters encouraging its members to close their businesses, wear black and turn on headlights in the afternoon.
