Pembroke East-Central MP Michael Weeks wants to set the record straight after being accused of not doing his job on local television by not installing street lighting in his constituency.

Mr. Weeks' constituency includes the area surrounding St. Monica's Road also known as 42nd street. The area has been plagued by shootings and gang violence in recent months culminating with Saturday's shooting of Jakai Harford.

Earlier this week, on the local television news, a man who did not give his name indirectly accused Mr. Weeks of not acting upon calls by his constituents to install street lighting in some of the dark and meandering roads that criss-cross the area. Mr. Weeks said that a caller to a popular radio talk show also accused him of the same thing.

Mr. Weeks, who became the MP for the area on August 27, 2009 disputes these claims. According to the MP he had a formal meeting with Minister of Works and Engineering Derrick Burgess seven weeks ago to formulate a plan to install lights in the area. Mr. Weeks claims that he even went door-to-door in the affected roads and lanes informing residents of the plan and handing out consent forms for them to fill out and return.

"In my regular walkabouts of the area, it was apparent from the many conversations had with residents, that lighting was indeed an issue. Many of the area roads are either poorly lit or have no lighting at all," said Mr. Weeks.

"As the MP for the area, I immediately consulted with the Minister of Works and Engineering the Hon. Derrick Burgess. I along with Mr. Burgess and a few of the engineers conducted a thorough site visit in the aforementioned areas needing lighting. At the conclusion of that site visit, I met with that team and a detailed plan was developed for the lighting of various areas. Not only will Government install and maintain these lights, they will come at absolutely no cost to residents."

Because the lights will have to be installed on private roads, 50 percent of the residents must give their consent for Government to go ahead with the plan. To date only a handful of the residents have returned the forms said Mr. Weeks, even though they were provided with addressed envelopes that's do not require postage.

Said Mr. Weeks: "So, when we say that the MP in the area, has yet to 'do anything', I have to ask if you are a resident in one of the areas mentioned, and whether you have completed your consent form for the lighting? In addition, have you encouraged your neighbour to do the same? If you are not a resident, in that community, then my encouragement would be, that you secure all the facts, before you speak to an issue, because in that way, you speak as one fully informed."

The MP is also actively pursuing a CCTV network for St. Monica's Road to monitor criminal activity in the area and meeting with churches and the Police to set up neighbourhood watch groups.

"I have met with the Hon. Lt. Col. David Burch, the Minister of Public Safety about the CCTV issue in the area and we are actively working to that end."

Mr. Weeks added: "I do understand that people are on edge and looking for quick solutions. However, we must stay positive, as we remain committed to ridding our area of all negativity, 'one street corner at a time'."