Police to increase monitoring of crash hotspots in St Ann

THE ST Ann police will increase its monitoring of several crash hotspots in the parish to reduce road fatalities.

Addressing the monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation on January 12, the commanding officer for the parish, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dwight Powell, reported that the parish recorded 36 fatal collisions that resulted in 47 deaths, compared to 32 fatal crashes, which resulted in 35 deaths in 2021.

“We have identified a few areas that are of cause for concern. So, places like the Llandovery main road, which remains a place to be policed constantly, and the North-South Highway, which gave us quite a few fatal collisions last year. We had quite a few problems down there on the Queen’s Highway last year and those are some areas that we will be putting some specific focus on this year in terms of road policing,” SSP Powell said.

He called on motorists to drive with caution and exercise good judgement in their use of the roadway.

“I am going to use the opportunity [to urge] those who are using our roadways to ensure that we follow the rules of the road. Use the road with caution and ensure that you save your life and the lives of others. So, those persons who are reckless and careless in their driving, we’re going to ask them to follow the rules of our road,” he implored.

Meanwhile, SSP Powell commended the police for their management of the large influx of traffic along sections of the North Coast Highway during the staging of several concerts during the Christmas and new year periods, despite negative comments in the public space.

He explained that while there were traffic delays due to the unexpected size of the crowd that turned out for the recent staging of the Intimate concert held at Grizzly’s Plantation in the parish, the police handled the situation well.

“We met with the promoter and based on what they said to us they were anticipating some 10,000 persons to be in attendance at the concert. When we checked we had over 35,000 that were attending. So that definitely posed some challenges for us,” SSP Powell said.

He assured that the police would be putting measures in place to prevent a recurrence of traffic delays experienced for the Intimate concert when Rebel Salute is hosted at the venue this weekend, January 20 and 21.

“We have identified a few areas that are of cause for concern. So, places like the Llandovery main road, which remains a place to be policed constantly”