By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterCONSTANTINE BAILEY has enjoyed having a drink at various bars in Kingston for over 24 years. But with robbers reportedly targeting taverns across the Corporate Area he, like many other drinkers, has decided to play it safe by spending less time at these outlets.
"You cannot have a comfortable drink in these places again because you don't know who is who. Things are not like first time, nowa-days I just have a quick drink and leave," said the 63-year-old, while sipping a beer at Cherry's Pub on East Road, St. Andrew, on Monday.
Bailey's fears are based on the shooting of four men at a bar in Braeton, St. Catherine, on Sunday night. Three of the victims, Ronnie Bennett, Alvest O'Mally and Cornel Bruce, died on the spot.
A DEATH TRAP
There are reports that bars are now becoming a death trap, rather than a place for social relaxation. The operators of these facilities believe they are being targeted by gunmen.
"We got robbed on Sunday," the bartender at A&B Tavern on Carpenters Road, Kingston, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Two weeks ago, another group of gunmen attempted to rob a bar operated by Antonnette Yai on Chisholm Avenue. She said that same evening gunmen shot and robbed the proprietor of a nearby bar.
"I am the breadwinner in my family and business is getting really bad, because I have to start closing early," said Ms. Yai, a 19-year veteran in the bar business.
There have been reports of several robberies at bars and scores of persons shot, some succumbing to their injuries. Between April 2002 and September 2004, more than 23 persons were killed during robberies at bars. This is according to published reports in The Gleaner.
