THE EDITOR, Sir:WHILE I commend the Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Desmond McKenzie, for his recent preoccupation with collecting monies from places of amusement that are operating without proper licences or persons illegally parked in the New Kingston area, I would like greater attention placed on the safety of persons parking in KSAC parking lots.
On Monday February 6, I received an email entitled 'FYI-Be Careful' in which a young lady described her ordeal of a homeless man stealing belongings from her car in the parking lot behind Burger King, New Kingston. Today Feburary 9, my friend was viciously attacked in the said parking lot by another homeless guy who hit her on the head with a metal pipe. She had to be rushed to the hospital for treatment.
BE MORE VIGILANT
Being a proactive individual, I began calling several media houses to advise listeners/readers to be more vigilant when using these unsecured parking lots. I then called the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) to speak to the Mayor and was told that he was unavailable. I explained to his assistant the nature of my call and was then instructed to make contact with the person responsible for parking lots on his cellular phone, a matter I thought the Mayor needs to address.
Honestly, my friend could have lost her life and the response I got from the Mayor's office was quite disheartening as the Mayor's assistant could have been a bit more compassionate. The reality is the above-mentioned incidents have been happening for a while yet no one has sought to address the situation of the risks associated with KSAC parking areas.
Mayor, I hope you will tackle this problem of the homeless people in New Kingston Kingston's business district before Jamaica starts getting negative press from international media houses after a tourist has been assaulted.
I am, etc.,
NADIA BLACK
changejamaica@yahoo.ca
