I have been having problems with a nearby resident who I believe is heavily on street drugs. This man has been tormenting the Old Plantation area neighbourhood, my daughter and me since I moved back to Tortola from Orlando in 2001. I have visited the police station in East End and Road Town so many times that I lost count.
On March 11 I had a very violent encounter with this man. He was stealing my lumber from upstairs of my house right in front of my face. I tried to stop him, but he threw a piece of concrete block that hit me in the middle of my back. It bruised my back so badly that it made it difficult to raise my right hand above my head. I was fortunate that three men saw him attacking me and intervened, preventing him from killing me.
I reported this incident to the East End Police Station. They came to my house two hours afterwards and warned me about not going upstairs of my house if this man decided that he wanted more of my lumber to build his nearby shed. The police never asked me if I wanted to press charges on this mad man, who also had attacked me numerous times before. I never saw those two officers again.
Burning a fire
On April 22, the same man was burning a fire in his yard at about 7 p.m. The fire was so high it almost reached the government electric lines. The smoke was killing my neighbours and me. The neighbours are very old people who worked so hard in Tortola and they deserved some peace and quiet and of course none of us get that living by this sick individual.
I went to the EE Police Station to make a report about this fire, but it was early in the morning as this person usually burns his fires between 1 and 4 a.m. when everyone is trying to get some sleep. I entered the police station and I called and I rang the bell, but no one answered.
I was shocked and dismayed to see that there wasn’t anyone in the police station. Two gentlemen came right after me and they asked me, “Where are the police?” and I replied, “I haven’t seen or heard anyone around here.”
There was a small note on the upper right-hand corner of the glass stating, “If you want help please call these numbers.” The young fellow took out his cell phone and called the first number, and the telephone rang inside the station. When he called the other number, the police answered and said that they would be there in 10 minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, two police pulled up in the jeep: a lady and a man. They called me inside since I was the first person there. I asked the police why the EE station didn’t have anyone inside it.
The young lady told me bluntly, “We are the only two police working in the East End area, so we have to patrol the whole area and when we are out there is no one to watch the station.”
I told the officers my problem and the policeman said, “Ms. Frett, what do you want the police to do?”
I replied, “The government said no one must burn anything in their yard.”
Then he said they would check out the problem. Of course, the police never showed up: The fire was burning until 7 the next morning.
Gov’t called out
Premier Andrew Fahie and the new Virgin Islands Party government, is this the protecting that you all are offering the people of the Seventh and Eighth districts? What about when something happens like what went on when the young man got shot right next to my house a few weeks ago and no officers are in the station? This is how the government is handling and protecting the people?
The man was lying on the street fighting for his life while Tortola police and ambulance raced from Road Town to aid him.
There are so many strangers in the East End area that the government brought into Tortola to fix our houses. Are we safe in our homes? I certainly don’t feel so. Our three representatives or ministers for the Seventh and Eighth districts better fix this serious and dangerous situation or we all are going to be very, very sorry.