I would like to share an experience which my family and I, as well as many other unfortunate persons, had on November 11, at about 7:45 p.m. in the New Kingston area.

My family and I went to Pizza Hut on Knutsford Boulevard and we parked across the road from the establishment.

Shortly after, someone alerted everyone within the restaurant that a wrecker was seizing two cars.

Initially, I was not alarmed but, when the cars were described, I realised one of them was mine.

I looked outside and saw the wrecker seconds away from leaving with the cars. I was lucky enough to stop them and asked where they where taking my car and why. I was informed that they were on a KSAC operation and were taking the cars to the KSAC pound on Barry Street in the middle of downtown, Kingston.

The capital of the country is a gloomy and frightening place at night. The only places open there at nights are the corner bars and the police stations. Some of these police stations close after certain hours because of safety concerns.

Lack of concern

This kind of act against citizens demonstrated just one more lack of concern for not only the safety of my family, but the safety of Jamaicans. As citizens, we are forced to stay in our homes by gunmen because of fear that we may be robbed, shot and/or killed, abducted and kidnapped. To add insult to injury, those of us who are courageous enough and decide to take our families out for a rare treat, are now forced by the KSAC to stay at home.

The KSAC wants us to use one of their eight or nine parking lots in the New Kingston area - the same parking lots that are controlled by thugs at night, who extort money from us to use the parks that they neither own nor built. We will pay this money out of fear, and hope for the best, but it is also the lesser of two evils because if you park anywhere else it could cost $5000 - $7500 at the KSAC.

Also compounding the fearful situation of parking elsewhere is the fact that you may have to then walk to and from these dark, lonely parking lots along dark, lonely roads where no one cares that you might be at risk.

Mr Mayor, is it that you don't have a heart? Is it that you don't care about the safety of the citizens? Is it that Kingston must be 'cleaned up' at any cost - even at the cost of the same taxpayers, who helped to create it in the first place? How is this justifiable? When you tow citizens' vehicles, at eight or nine o'clock at night, from New Kingston to downtown, Kingston, and leave a family on the roadside, exposed to all the ills of this country, and to then find themselves downtown, Kingston to recover their vehicle, you and your staff are not mindful of the serious risks.

If the citizens stop going to these places to spend because of fear, both of criminals and the KSAC, these companies will lose revenue, which will result in the Government losing revenue from them, as well as the employees who will lose their jobs. One of the Government's campaign promises was "jobs jobs jobs", and this behaviour is not going to deliver and maintain this promise. Another promise was safety of taxpayers and upstanding members of society - another promise on the verge of not being kept.

I would like to encourage all well-thinking citizens of Jamaica to stay home this Christmas season with your family, it is much safer because it is obvious that we cannot venture out because the Government and the mayor of Kingston will seek to put your life and the lives of your family at risk.

I am, etc.,

PURNELL HAUGHTON

purnellhaughton@yahoo.com

Portmore, St Catherine

Via Go-Jamaica