PNM councillor robbed

The mall, built in 2005 by deceased former prime minister Patrick Manning, is the property of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Yesterday, Parris slammed the HDC for a lack of proper security and poor maintenance at the plaza. This is the third armed robbery at the mall this year. “I am shaken up by what happened but I am more alarmed and hurt by the fact that residents of Pleasantville can’t go the village mall and shop peacefully because of the escalating crime,” Parris said.

He called on HDC to implement better security measures at the busy shopping centre and spoke of a number of criminal activities that occur at the mall but often go unreported. Police reported that at 5 pm on Thursday, three gunmen entered the supermarket and announced a holdup.

They proceeded to rob the cashier and then ordered customers to lie on the floor and, “empty allyuh pockets.” The bandits later escaped with cash and jewelry.

During the ten minute ordeal, Parris said he prayed for his safety and that of the other customers some of whom were women. On March 25, Christopher Wells, 32, a barber of Hibiscus Drive, Pleasantville who was gunned down while sitting outside the barber shop at the mall. On February 14, truck driver Kern Joseph, 35, of Parakeet Boulevard, Pleasantville was shot dead at the plaza which is not far from his home.

“Customers and tenants alike feel like sitting ducks because when the plaza was built, Mr Manning built it with a certain amount of standards which included security.

But everything has fallen apart,” Parris said.

Newsday was told that for the past seven years security cameras installed on the perimeter of the mall have not been working despite many complaints to HDC. A tenant said: “Cameras don’t work, fire hoses don’t work, drains are not cleaned, something must be done because persons are scared to return to the mall. HDC head of Corporate Communications Maurisa Findlay said yesterday the armed robbery on Thursday was brought to the attention of the agency’s internal security.

“We have also spoken to the Ministry of National Security and will continue to have discussions with senior officers of the Southern Division to increase patrols in the area.” Findlay said while the HDC has security measures in place, store operators must also implement their own safety systems to safeguard their properties.