Top 20 most volatile, vulnerable communities targeted for renewal

Of 20 Jamaican communities deemed to be the most violence-prone, volatile and vulnerable, 14 are located in the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, four in St James, and one each in St Catherine and Clarendon.

This is according to the Community Renewal Programme (CRP) which is to be initially targeted of 100 volatile and vulnerable communities in the five most crime-affected parishes.

The selection process was completed on January 25, and the document has since been tabled in Parliament.

Jones Town in St Andrew heads the list overall, when all variables are taken into account. It is followed by:

Riverton City, St. Andrew; Hannah Town/Craig Town in Kingston; Majestic Gardens in St Andrew; Rae Town, Kingston; Central downtown Kingston; Rose Town in St Andrew; Retirement, St James; Flanker, St James; Lionel Town in Clarendon; Denham Town in Kingston; Waterhouse, St Andrew, Spanish Town Central, St Catherine; Arnett Gardens, St Andrew; Delacree Park/ Union Gardens, St Andrew; Franklyn Town in Kingston; Greenwich Town/Newport West in St Andrew; Anchovy, St James; Whitfield Town in St Andrew and Barrett Town, St James.

MOST VOLATILE COMMUNITIES

Meanwhile, Hannah Town/Craig Town in Kingston have been deemed to be the most volatile communities. That category is, however, dominated by St James communities. Rounding out the top 20 most volatile communities are:

– Green Pond, St James;

– Pitfour, St James;

– Retirement, St James;

– Salt Spring, St James;

– Norwood, St James;

– Spanish Town Central in St Catherine;

– Caymanas, St Catherine;

– Majestic Gardens, St Andrew;

– Jones Town, St Andrew;

– Rose Heights, St James;

– Bogue in St James;

– Mount Salem, St James;

– Riverton City, St Andrew;

– Delacree Park/ Union Gardens, St Andrew;

– Catherine Hall; St James;

– Adelphi, St James;

– Maxfield Park, St Andrew;

– Penwood, St. Andrew

– Granville, St James.

MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES

Meanwhile, Central downtown Kingston heads the list of the ‘most vulnerable communities’, followed by Jones Town in St Andrew, Rae Town in Kingston, Riverton City in St Andrew, and East do’wntown Kingston. Rounding out the list of top 20 most vulnerable communities are:

– Greenwich Town/Newport West in St Andrew;

– Majestic Gardens, St Andrew;

– Rose Town, St Andrew;

– Lionel Town, Clarendon;

– Hannah Town/ Craig Town, Kingston;

– Flanker, St James

– Stony Hill, St Andrew

– Race Course, Clarendon;

– Milk River, Clarendon;

– Denham Town; Kingston;

– New Haven; St Andrew;

– Gordon Town; St Andrew;

– Palmer’s Cross, Clarendon;

– Part of Kellits, Clarendon;

– Above Rocks, St Catherine

The selection of 100 communities for intervention under the CRP is based on the following criteria:

– Crime (murders and shootings)

– Poverty

– Teenage pregnancy

– Literacy (G4 literacy)

– Ex-convicts

– Accessibility of communities

– Child abuse

– Violence-related injuries

– Presence of gangs

– Presence of squatter settlements

The communities have been ranked on a combination of three variables – all variables, vulnerability variables and volatility variables.

Vulnerability variables include: poverty (weight – 0.5) • Teenage pregnancy • Literacy (grade four literacy) • Ex-convicts • Accessibility of communities • Child abuse • Squatters.

Volatility variables include: Crime • Violence-related Injuries • Presence of gangs (weight – 1.5).

An inter-agency committee of personnel from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), the Ministry of National Security, the Social Development Commission (SDC), the Institute of Jamaica, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), with civil society representation from the Violence Prevention Alliance, agreed on a set of criteria to guide the selection of the communities. The PIOJ and the Ministry of National Security gathered the relevant data from Government ministries, departments and agencies.

Data for all 10 variables were collected for the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine, Clarendon and St James