Sun setting in the east - Lawlessness, stagnation blight Morant Bay's image

published: Thursday | June 26, 2008 The closure of the Goodyear tyre factory, seen in this 2005 photograph, has contributed to the rise in unemployment in St Thomas. - File This is another in The Gleaner's series on the high level of lawlessness affecting some of Jamaica's townships. The St Thomas capital was once a thriving business district. But like the rest of the parish, memories of Morant Bay's glory days are fading fast. It is among the most underdeve-loped in the island, wracked by high levels of unemployment. Large factories which once employed many of the residents have either shipped out, or have significantly scaled down production in the last 10 years, leaving many jobless. The Goodyear tyre factory closed its doors in 1997. The scaling down of the Tropicana Sugar Company and the shutdown of the once-productive... [read full story]