Accumulated items, including mattresses, lumber, buckets and food containers, were compacted in a 26-cubic-yard garbage truck and hauled away last week from the unfinished building adjacent to the Rite Way Supermarket and the LIME Building on Flemming Street.
This was one of the first challenges for Curtis Roberts, the new Road Town neighbourhood officer, as he attempts to create a safer and more sanitary capital city.
Sergeant Tilda Henry, head the Community Safety Department, said that the immediate need to stop the gathering of individuals in the abandoned structure brought about the first meeting last week with City Manager Janis Braithwaite-Edwards and officers from Community Mental Health, the Department of Waste Management and the Social Development Department, after reports of fights resulting in injuries to people inhabiting the premises.
“We know for years that individuals have used the building for shelter, particularly at night,” Ms. Henry said. “Since it is open and accessible, these individuals have become territorial, and fights break out on occasion when newcomers decide to take up residence.”
The sergeant said the area had not only become unsightly, but also unsanitary and unsafe, even to unsuspecting passersby.
After the inhabitants were warned, officers of Community Safety Department and Task Force gathered before sunrise to provide security as personnel from the Wickhams Cay Development Authority and the Department of Waste Management removed the accumulated items.
Fire and Rescue Services helped finish the job by washing the building.
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