WESTERN BUREAU:
A DEMONSTRATION by residents of Kew in Hanover yesterday took an ugly turn when two local officials, including an employee of the Hanover Parish Council, were prevented from leaving the scene of the protest until a settlement was reached.
Kevin Ferguson, chairman of the Kew Land Development Provident Society, and Bertland Barrett, a field assistant employed to the Hanover Parish Council, were reportedly accosted by angry residents who demanded that remedial work be effected on damaged roads in their community.
"The people wanted to know that the parish council understood their grouses and so they were trying to make sure that the parish council and others were clear on the matter," Mr. Ferguson told The Gleaner yesterday.
"We visited the area two months ago to look at the road situation which has been a long-standing problem with the residents who decided they are fed up," Mr. Ferguson explained.
TOO MUCH FOR LUCEA POLICE
Reports are that at 6:00 a.m. Thursday, more than 300 residents of the community descended on a section of the North Coast Highway in the vicinity of the Lucea East River Bridge. The size of the protest proved too much for the Lucea police, who had to send to Montego Bay for backup.
Meanwhile, councillor for the Lucea division, Audley Gilpin said that upon hearing of the situation, he sent Barrett to investigate. When Barrett and Ferguson attempted to leave, residents used debris to block both sections of the roadway,
effectively trapping them.
Within hours of the men's detention, marl was trucked into the area, and rehabilitation work began on the roads.
Checks with the Lucea police revealed that no charges have been filed in connection with the protest, and the detention of the public officials.
