\n<\/p>\n
The tension was palpable in Spanish Town yesterday as residents, commuters, and business operators nervously faced the ripples of the aftershocks of a daring deadly daylight gang attack in the St Catherine capital a day earlier, which triggered pandemonium and upended what had seemingly been just a regular day.<\/p>\n
The fright was still evident yesterday, and everyone kept their eyes pealed, scrutinising the smallest movements as the town remained on edge.<\/p>\n
Many streets remained deserted early Wednesday morning as just a few locals risked venturing out, briskly making their way to work and school.<\/p>\n
Despite turning out, some business owners did not unchain their shops, watching and waiting for a sign or some assurance that the environment was back to normal.<\/p>\n
For some, however, normalcy never arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u2018fraid. Me will go home,\u201d one Chinese wholesaler near the market district, where three persons were killed on Tuesday told The Gleaner<\/b>, said, unable to express much more because of language barriers.<\/p>\n
Workers at the establishment said Tuesday\u2019s incident was horrifying, recalling their frantic efforts to close the store\u2019s shutters amid the deafening gunfire and as persons scampered for cover, many fleeing the street and spilling into the wholesale for shelter.<\/p>\n
One market vendor who turned up yesterday to put out her produce admitted that if there were not enough persons from whom to solicit business, she was willing to pack up and return home.<\/p>\n
After arranging his stall at 8:30 a.m., one fruit and vegetable vendor who hails from Clarendon said that sales were low amid the drastic decline in the customary morning crowd on the streets of the Old Capital.<\/p>\n
Two pounds of cabbage was all he had sold in over half an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf me nuh sell nothing much, mi just pack up and gwan back home,\u201d he said, adding that this would be \u201cthe best way\u201d to go.<\/p>\n
The local market was also desolate as few vendors bothered to turn up.<\/p>\n
One vendor told The Gleaner <\/b>that she had sustained cuts and scrapes after falling while attempting to flee to safety as gunshots rang out on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
This, she said, was uncommon as gunmen would not target people within the market district.<\/p>\n
The reality, she continued, is that some residents have become immune to the violence in the town over time and have been forced to turn a blind eye for their own protection when they recognise suspects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt rough, y\u2019know, but we just have to drink some water and easy. There is nothing we can do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place tense,\u201d one shop owner said. \u201cMe just wish we could see the police more. With somewhere so hot, we need to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heavily armed soldiers and police officers were observed patrolling areas such as Railway Lane, Job Lane, Cumberland Road, William and French streets, among other hotspots yesterday.<\/p>\n
Despite their presence, homeowners along Chambers Lane, which runs parallel to Railway Lane \u2013 the scene of a quadruple murder in early June \u2013 remain terrified.<\/p>\n
With the street barricaded, one resident argued that this was necessary to protect the most vulnerable, including children, the elderly, and women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haffi try protect wiself. That\u2019s why we block [the] road … . We nah tek no check. Better we safe than no safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some parents opted to have their children stay home from school for the day, preferring to wait to see if the violence had subsided and not endanger them. They children, they told The Gleaner<\/b>, were also traumatised by the piercing sounds of gunfire and expressed fear in venturing out of their homes.<\/p>\n
The mothers also indicated that they are anticipating further retaliation from warring factions and said they would prefer that teachers provide work online for their children so they are not disadvantaged by the necessary absence.<\/p>\n
Amid the mayhem on Tuesday, a fire also broke out on the two-layered roofing of the St Catherine Parish Court\u2019s administrative building on White Church Street.<\/p>\n
Telka Holt, commercial services manager at the Rodney Memorial Building, told The Gleaner <\/b>that although no paper files were damaged, some records and equipment sustained water damage from the efforts to extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Holt gave the assurance that this would not slow down operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can get back on our feet very fast. You know, we have some very good workers and the paperwork itself, we would have had copies of certain work in different [locations],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Holt said that employees had been advised to remain home yesterday if they felt going to work would risk their personal safety, noting that many staff members lived in nearby communities that are being directly affected by the upsurge in violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really, really heart-warming to see that they are out today,\u201d she said of the 23 staffers who turned up.<\/p>\n