Pole Yard residents cry out for street lights after murder (+video)

The residents of Pole Yard, Arnos Vale, some of whom have been victims of horrendous crimes over the years believe that perpetrators are assisted by the fact that they can operate under the cover of darkness, there being no street lamps or electricity in the area.

On April 12, one day after Jomo “Top Dog” Brudy died at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) after being shot at Pole Yard, residents cried out to the authorities to fit the area with nighttime lighting and a source of electricity.

Brudy, a vendor was shot at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday April 10 while sitting on a bench outside a shop he operated in the area.

Originally from Edinboro, the shopkeeper was liming outside his shop, which is located opposite his home, when a masked gunman walked through a space between Brudy’s house and a neighbour’s board dwelling and opened fire, before disappearing whence he came using the darkness as cover.

John “Dan Dada” Dallaway, also of Pole Yard but originally from Georgetown was shot in his upper left thigh during the same incident but survived. He said he tried to run away, but was struck.

Brudy’s friend, Avon “Grins” Campbell said she is “devastated” by his death.

“The community is feeling down and we take this opportunity to, on behalf of the other people, to beg the Prime Minister please to give us electricity.

“Pole Yard is too dark and this is the fourth shooting we getting here and people just dying and we don’t know who killing them.

“We can’t see anybody and we asking the prime minister even though is temporary electricity, he say he going to move us; please Mr Prime Minister if you are going to hear this tape, we begging you.

“Please I am appealing for the people of Pole Yard so you can give us electricity please,” Campbell said.

Calvert Shaka Cupid, another of Brudy’s friends said he remembers when Arnott “Nato” Hope was shot in Pole Yard on Friday December 27, 2019, at around 9 pm, and later died.

“When he dead…I always appealing to the government to bring light in Pole Yard.

“Now, a man name Kenny, Owen Stoddard dead in here, no light, a man name “Jackie” from Lowmans come and dey in here and get dead to,” Cupid said.

Stoddard was shot on two occasions in Pole Yard (On Tuesday February 11, 2020 at around 8 pm, and at about 11:20 p.m. on March 3, 2022). He died the second time.

Coincidentally on March 3, 2022 when Stoddard was shot, Brudy and a Lowmans resident Randolph “Bruce Lee” Samuel survived gunshot wounds.

Also killed in and around Pole Yard were Osborne “Rat” Rodgers, a labourer, originally from Barrouallie who was shot after 11 p.m. on Thursday January 10, 2019 and Veronica Keisha Small whose body was found in the early hours of Thursday morning, August 25, 2022 lying on the tarmac of the decommissioned ET Joshua Airport close to a container. She had a piece of PVC pipe inserted into her vagina.

Cupid said on Sunday March 26, a Unity Labour Party (ULP) rally which was held on the decommissioned ET Joshua Airport tarmac saw Pole Yard so illuminated, “that if you drop a pin in Pole Yard you could pick it up…”.

Cupid also said that when the World Food Programme was using the tarmac as a base during the volcanic eruptions of 2021, the place was flooded with light because “they don’t trust Pole Yard people because they say Pole Yard people is thief so they make sure over dey light up…”.

Cupid stressed that residents need some source of lighting in Pole Yard.

“People just coming in here and shooting people, shooting people, shooting people and up to now government can’t put a light in the place and dem say dem going build hospital and they say they going do all thing and they say they going move Pole Yard people and send them somewhere and up to now they can’t send we nowhere,” Cupid lamented.

He said that the river defence project which took place in Pole Yard is being used as a shortcut by criminals who want to enter Pole Yard to commit crimes and the absence of lighting is not helping.

“I might be the next victim get shoot…at the end of the day, tell the government, straight up, give we light. If you ain’t moving we from the place, give we light leh we see the gunman, leh we see the gunman then we could tell the police who is the gunman, trust me nah man.

“We go see the gunman if the government deal with we. If the government deal with we, we go see something,” Cupid stressed.

He added that he is also upset because his dog “Marshmallow” was shot twice during the incident where Brudy was killed.

Back in 2015, Chief Executive Officer of VINLEC Thornley Myers said the government is the entity that pays for street lights but the country cannot afford to put street lights in every area.

He revealed that at that point, about 14,000 street lights were needed to properly serve the country but only 8100 had been installed while there were 26,000 poles available.
VINLEC told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that as at April 12, 2023, 9892 street lights are installed.