SCORES OF telephone calls were made to our newsroom yesterday in response to The Gleaner's page one expose, "Dons Extort Millions".
The callers, most of them opting to remain anonymous were virtually whispering, apparently in fear that the criminals would hear them.
Here are some of the comments:
"It was a great story, but more could have been done on the mobile boutiques, and the fact that the vendors in downtown Kingston expect to live like this forever, paying no taxes, or rent, playing their loud music, and robbing at will. I have a store and I may be forced to close it, putting over a dozen people out of work. Why? Because this government refuses to do anything about it."
"This is one of the articles in The Gleaner that is right on the mark. I've been held up six times, and I must congratulate you for your courage to come forward and expose these things. We've been guilty of hiding it for years. The story was a job well done, and you guys are going to have a backlash for it. Your safety may be compromised, I've seen too many colleagues murdered, migrated, who have stood up to this extortion and racketeering".
"We have been held hostage for years. On two occasions, I have been robbed, and on both occasions I did my underground checks, and revealed the name of perpetrators involved. I told the police, and their reply was that 'those people are bigger than them, they can't touch them'. We feel powerless."
"I must congratulate The Gleaner on a first-class piece of journalism and I hope you don't stop there. We have been suffering for years and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this story".
"I am a manager downtown and I can't tell you what you have done for me. You have made my day because this story needed to come out. Keep up the good work".
I went downtown yesterday to do some shopping and I have never seen the city in such a state. It was a disgrace. I was in a taxi and the handcart men were in the road and the handcart man was cursing the taxi-driver. I was totally turned off. I am just glad that you have done this story".
