(Jamaica Gleaner) Municipal officials in the central Jamaica parish of Clarendon have been criticised for failing to intervene in the takeover of an abandoned house in May Pen by mentally ill vagrants who have turned it into a dump and a latrine.
The abandoned house located on Trenton Crescent in the Clarendon capital has been described by a retired businessman who lives in the community as a public-health nuisance.
The retiree, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, told The Gleaner that the house has been empty since it was ravaged by Category Five Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. It has for at least two years reportedly become a haunt for mentally ill persons.
“It is a disgrace! This is a residential area. This is close to where Hotel Versalles is,” said the homeowner, who said he had been unsuccessful in getting redress from town authorities.
“Mad men are living there, and they are storing garbage there and using the place as a bathroom.”
In the wake of the protest, Custos of Clarendon, William Shagoury, has vowed to provide help to the homeless persons, stating that the plans to assist them are already under way. He noted that he was currently on a quest to locate the owner of the abandoned house.
Inspector of poor relief at the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, Jeanette Samuels-Morris, acknowledged the dire circumstances of the homeless population but gave the assurance that the parish’s drop-in centre had been providing assistance to homeless persons with showers and meals.
“We are trying to get them reintegrated into society,” she said.
The Trenton Crescent homeowner is fearful that the mentally ill vagrants pose a security threat to residents who, he said, live in constant fear of being harmed.
“One (mentally ill person) came first, and we tried to get the authorities to get him to move, but that didn’t happen. Then several others came.”
When The Gleaner contacted May Pen Mayor Winston Maragh, he vowed to send a team to investigate the situation.
Meanwhile, Joseph Grant, parish manager of the Clarendon Health Services, also expressed ignorance of the situation, saying that they would dispatch a team of mental-health personnel to the site.
Personnel at the May Pen Police Station also denied knowledge of the concern.
But the Trenton Crescent homeowner said that he had made several reports to the May Pen police, but all in vain. He told The Gleaner that his advocacy has been hampered by the constant relocation of police officers.
“The issue has been ongoing, and during the time, they have changed about five superintendents, so when we think we were getting somewhere with the issue, we are told the superintendent got transferred, so we go back to square one,” he said.
