– 75 street lights installed

DEPUTY Police Commissioner of ‘Operations’ (ag), Clifton Hicken is advising residents of Diamond/Grove, on the East Bank of Demerara to work along with the police, the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the Community Policing Groups (CPGs) to identify vulnerable youths and enroll them in developmental programmes.
In a follow up meeting held at the old Grove Primary School on Saturday, Hicken related that contact should be made with the parents of vulnerable youths and action should be taken to provide the youngsters with vocational skills training for their personal development.

The senior cop also called on the corporate community to play their part in helping to sustain such training programmes as part of effort to reduce crime. Hicken and his team have held several meetings with residents of Grove/Diamond, beginning last year, following an increase in robberies; he noted that there has been a reduction in crime since then.

He emphasised that more must be done in the community to further reduce crime and to get the youths meaningfully engaged. Further, the Deputy Police Commissioner reiterated the importance of building a partnership with the residents by communicating via sing WhatsApp groups for quicker action to be taken in cases of suspected criminal activities.

This, he said, will aid in reducing criminal activities in the area and enhance community vigilance. Residents, during the meeting, raised several issues and concerns which were all addressed while the police were commended for their diligence during the Christmas season in crime reduction and noise nuisance.
Additionally, the residents also recommended that a few streets in the community be converted to one-way traffic in an effort to ease traffic congestion in the area. As such, the divisional traffic officer was tasked with doing an assessment to ascertain if the recommendation is feasible.
Meanwhile, in highlighting the results following the last meeting in December 2020, Hicken revealed that a total of 75 street lights were installed.

This, he said, was made possible by the Diamond/Grove NDC Chairman, Indranie Ramnarine and team via the assistance of Prime Minister, Brigadier (rt’d), Mark Phillips.

He further revealed that all abandoned stalls in the area were removed, vendors were relocated to the Diamond Market Tarmac and some were given letters to cease illegal vending.

Regional Commander of 4 ‘B’, Senior Superintendent, Linden Isles, who was present at the meeting, thanked the residents for their partnership and also committed to continuing similar meetings in the Region 4 ‘B’ (East Bank District) area.

Also in attendance were Deputy Commander 4 ‘B’, Superintendent Loraine Saul and Chairperson of the Diamond/Grove NDC, Indranie Ramnarine