Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
INNER-CITY RENEWAL work being done by the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC) in Southside, central Kingston, was recently suspended after persons in the community hijacked the project, demanding jobs.
The Kingston Urban Renewal Project is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Reports reaching The Gleaner are that influential persons in the community have demanded that volunteers helping with the project be dismissed and they instead be hired to erect the streets signs.
KRC project manager Pauline Brown has reportedly been shaken up by the incident which has now left the KRC board scrambling for answers regarding the project's continuation.
FEARFUL TO CONTINUE
"We are having meetings with the executive director (Morin Seymour) and the board. They are aware of it, and are dealing with it," the project manager
disclosed.
Reports are that Mrs. Brown was planning to resign, but on Tuesday she said she had not "made any personal decision".
Asked whether she was fearful, Mrs. Brown replied: "I think with the crime situation in Jamaica, we all are."
She told The Gleaner she was not sure she would continue to figure prominently in the project.
Mr. Seymour confirmed that the project was halted due to what he said was some "communication" problem.
He added that phase one of the project which involved the painting of pedestrian crossings was done without any impediment. The KRC executive director, however, stated that phase two, which comprised the erection of street signs, was affected.
"Something seemed to have happened which was out of the norm," Mr. Seymour said.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGE
He confirmed that the KRC board was studying the matter. "The steering committee met, considered the matter and made recommendations to the KRC board, which are being considered," Mr. Seymour told The Gleaner.
He added that the KRC did not report the matter to the police. However, commanding officer of the Kingston Central Division, Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP) Marlon Dietrich, said he was told about the work stoppage.
"On Labour Day some (street) signs should have been erected and some persons in the community were upset that the signs were being erected free when funds were granted to erect them," he said. "Hence they wanted a discontinuation of the erection of the signs."
According to DSP Dietrich, he has since advised the KRC to meet with the disgruntled community representatives to clarify how the funds can be accessed and used. That meeting, the deputy superintendent added, is scheduled for later this week.
