Extortion racket down on Red Hills Road but business slow

Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter

CONCERTED AND sustained police efforts have put a major dent on the extortion racket which had gripped sections of the commercial zone of Red Hills Road, Kingston, up to last year.

While business has not improved generally, people operating between Elizabeth Avenue and Pennant Terrace on Red Hills Road say they no longer face the illegal demands of protection money from gangsters. This is the result of the continuous police presence in the area.

"The programme we started before Operation Intrepid is still in place, resulting in an increase of police patrols, both mobile and foot. We also have other strategic activities in the area," said Deputy Commissioner Tilford Johnson.

Responding to questions about extortion in the commercial district of Red Hills Road, he said: "It has not come to our attention that this problem still exists."

But while one headache is easing, another appears to be in the making as business people there are reporting a spate of break-ins.

"Last Monday night they attempted to break into the pharmacy next door us," said Ronald Chai, a director of Lees Food Fair Supermarket, at the corner of Red Hills Road and Elizabeth Avenue.

When business people on Red Hills Road were pulling down their shutters in 1998 because of extortion, Patrick Lee, who spoke with The Gleaner then, said business was bright as usual.

But last week Mr. Chai reported that business was very slow. "Crime in Jamaica has not decreased and the perception people have about Red Hills is driving them away," he said.

Winston Lee, a manager at Extra Supermarket, said there was more police presence now on Red Hills Road, but business had taken a nose dive.

"There is no violence, the security is getting better, but business is slow," he said.

A Red Hills Road pastry shop was reported to have been broken into and several crates stolen.

Ezron Neamatt, of Yours Jewellery, Red Hills Mall Plaza, said shoppers needed to know there has been increased police presence in the area. He said the series of violent incidents on Red Hills Road over the last two years was still fresh in the minds of some people and that was keeping them away.

The two-storey TARA building at 105 Red Hills Road where a branch of Scotiabank was previously located is partly occupied. Only about four of the 16 stores are in operation. The others are empty.

"Everything is calm, nothing is happening on Red Hills Road, but people are afraid to come into the area," said a man who identified himself as the manager of the plaza, but declined to give his name.

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