A woman displays Jamaica Public Service electricity bills during a demonstration at the Yallahs ford in St.Thomas yesterday. Citizens organised the protest against increases in electricity rates and bad road conditions in their community. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
POCKETS OF unrest exploded across the island yesterday as angry mobs in four parishes blocked roads to protest a raft of problems including damaged roads, poor drainage and sewerage facilities, harsh economic conditions, and a controversial police shooting.
As the day dawned, dozens of young men of Moorefield in Wakefield, Trelawny, armed with machetes, roamed the community, chopping down trees that were used to choke off the main arteries into the community. They succeeded in blocking the main road in the community at five spots, and even managed to block the Falmouth bypass.
POLITICAL VICTIMISATION
Mayor of Falmouth Jonathan Bartley supported the roadblock, saying: "It should have been blocked a long time ago, and if the Prime Minister were here I would have said the same thing."
The mayor suggested that "political victimisation" may be at the heart of the Government's refusal to repair the drainage facilities, adding that the "authorities have no respect for the people in his division as Government ministers were brought down to see the plight of the Zion community but no one visited this area".
Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Patrick Harris, explained that it was the unavailability of an excavator which had held up the drain repair project.
TWO-PRONGED PROTEST
In St. Thomas, citizens from South Heaven, Poor Man's Corner and an area known as Ghetto Lane demonstrated along the Yallahs ford. It was a two-pronged protest against the poor state of the bridge and the recent electricity hikes.
One protester in particular, Sylvester Daley, of Knights Ville, Yallahs, was hopping mad. The 57-year-old farmer said that his last light bill sang an expensive tune of $17, 897. "I don't have a supermarket, nor a meat shop, nor a factory," he yelled.
However, the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) has declared that the cries of the protesting public to retract the rate increases recently granted to the Jamaica Public Service cannot be met without the Government attracting a lawsuit.
A four per cent aggregate rate increase to accommodate rising fuel and inflation costs as well as hurricane damage claims has been granted to the light and power company.
But J. Paul Morgan, director general of the OUR, said yesterday: "We can't order a rollback. I can't go against the terms of the licence because that would be a breach of contract."
In St. Mary, police closely monitored the Stewart Town main road in the parish where residents of Mango Valley and adjoining districts gathered in the vicinity of Big Gate to complain about bad roads in their communities.
The residents contended that prior to the start of the 2003 Local Government Election, most of the roads in their communities were dug up to facilitate the installation of pipes to improve water supplies. The road had not been repaired and extensive deterioration has made it impassable at some points, residents reported.
In the meantime, yesterday afternoon, residents of Linstead, St. Catherine, staged a loud, angry fist-waving demonstration in the town square, snarling traffic and disrupting the town's activities as they protested the controversial shooting death of 31-year-old Joseph Simpson.
When The Gleaner news team visited the area at a few minutes after 3:00 p.m. yesterday, a heavy detachment of police personnel tried to restore calm to the area, while 500-plus contingent of residents hurled a litany of abuse and ugly slogans such as 'police brutality' and demanded 'we want justice'. The residents claim that Simpson, also known as 'Zacky', was executed by policemen. But the police denied the citizens' version of events.
Gleaner Reporters Devon Evans, Rasbert Turner, Tyrone Reid and Richard Morais contributed to this story. 
