The Editor, Sir:

In seeing the last two items on the to-do list for tackling the political garrisons, as stated by the Gleaner's associate editor, Byron Buckley, I propose that these may be the two most important items to be in place prior to driving a wedge between Jamaican civil society and anarchy.

Sometimes, while in Jamaica, I drive through some garrisons in order to beat traffic. What is most evident to me is the lack of street signs and the dilapidated state of pedestrian access along these roadways. If community renewal was set about as an agenda item, with an independent budget, along with legislated penalties for defacing or removing signs, it would assist in providing a much needed element for the fight against crime, which is information.

Major impediment

As a crime is being committed, one has to wonder what to tell the 119 operator of the location of the incident, especially if I am on my cellphone and not from the area. This work should go hand in hand with the removal of zinc fences and areas with oversubscribed residents. The lack of this on-the-ground information is a major impediment to maintaining order in the inner city and is a part of the canvas of the criminal element, which I am sure knows this.

Employment can be a spin-off of the drive to replace street signs, sidewalks and remove fences. Here lies another great opportunity to partner two critical elements that can complement each other. Coming out of the black hole of unnamed streets would have to be the myriad 'gully banks' and other spontaneous communities, created by people who live at no fixed address. This, it seems, might be a major political decision, since many who live in these spontaneous communities are there at the direction of circumstances beyond their control, whether political or not.

I am, etc,

HUGH M. DUNBAR, AIA

hmdenergy@optonline.net

6010 Boulevard East

Ste. 62

West New York, NJ