Dear Editor,

In the December 1 issue of the Observer, columnist Lloyd B Smith wrote the article, “A city without pity”, that made scathing remarks about a major gully-cleaning and maintenance programme along the North Gully in Montego Bay. I am certain that in his rush to deride the project, Mr Smith was not aware that the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) of the Ministry of National Security has lead responsibility. Mr Smith’s article asserted that: (a) The gully programme is a “brazen piece of pork barrel exercise”; (b) The programme falls short on public education and law enforcement measures; (c) Residents along the gully should not be paid to keep the gully clean. The article also infers fragmentation in project development.

The CSJP is disappointed that Mr Smith did not avail himself of the facts which were shared in a town-hall meeting on November 19, and carried in his newspaper, the Western Mirror, and other sections of the media. With a careless stroke of the pen he has also questioned the integrity of the CSJP.

On behalf of the CSJP, I wish to set the record straight.

(1) The gully-cleaning and maintenance programme is being developed and implemented by the CSJP in collaboration with the National Works Agency, Urban Development Corporation, Montego Bay Marine Park, the St James Health Department, Western Parks and Markets and the Social Development Commission. The programme is in fact a fine example of multi-agency cooperation and leadership with respect to a major problem in Montego Bay.

(2) A significant component of the project is a public education programme in the form of health and sanitation workshops to re-educate and re-socialise community members.

(3) Payments are being made to residents over a three-month period with respect to gully maintenance. Payments bring resources into poor families, helping to send children to school and putting food on the table. It has also served to generate community stability and pride. The re-socialisation and education workshops are intended not only to generate a sense of public responsibility, but to prepare residents to do so continuously when the project ends.

(4) This project is but one of a set of crime-prevention services being carried out by the CSJP in crime-prone communities in Jamaica. Our services also include vocational training, remedial reading, education, scholarship, parenting education, community infrastructural development, which are designed to address the social roots of crime and violence.

(5) Project sustainability is the cornerstone of our approach to programme development. With respect to this project, sustainability has been carefully integrated through citizen participation in gully maintenance, construction of garbage receptacles and the public education programme, among other features.

(6) Under the project, the mouth of the North Gully is in fact receiving attention. Project partner, the Montego Bay Marine Park, will be constructing a catchment at the mouth of the gully to deal with the debris that tends to accumulate there.

CSJP was established in 2001 in the Ministry of National Security with joint funding by the Inter-American Development Bank as a crime-prevention initiative. Our mandate is one that requires an inclusive and innovative approach to violence-prone communities. We agree that crime will cease to be a major problem as all Jamaicans work together in a spirit of cooperation and respect. As such, we continue to invite the private sector to join with us and other well-meaning agencies of government in securing this vision, and ask our opinion writers and shapers to employ more care, caution and research in their work.

I must strongly assert that “pork-barrel exercises” are neither our method nor our motive. If you doubt us, ask both sides of the political fence, but more important, ask residents of the 26 inner-city communities we serve across the nation. Over the years CSJP has established a reputation for non-partisanship, fairness and a comprehensive and consultative approach to community action. We wish to assure the public, including the communities we serve, of our unwavering commitment to these principles.

Simeon Robinson

Programme Manager, CSJP

6 Oxford Road, Kingston 5