Former police station site ‘plagues residents’

A spokesman for the residents of Douglas Development in St. Peter pleaded Thursday with the Government to quickly clear an abandoned plot of bushy land that is the site of the former District ‘E’ Police Station, which they claim is a threat to public safety.

A retired public servant from the area requested to remain anonymous as he led a team from Barbados TODAY on a tour of the area on Thursday.

According to him, for years after the decommissioning of the site, the Government’s upkeep of the area had been consistent. But for well over two years now, no work had been done, with the site now covered extensively in bush and debris.

The retiree said: “They [Government] use to come to be honest, but they had stopped, so about three years ago we haven’t seen any kind of activity down here. I spoke to the Honourable Minister [Colin] Jordan who came and looked at it, we notified the Chief Environmental Officer of the Maurice Byer Polyclinic who is responsible for this area, he [also] came and looked at it.

“We spoke to him on a number of occasions, and he indicated he would have taken some steps to deal with it, we have not seen any work yet.”

The resident noted that he had been informed that the National Housing Corporation (NHC) is responsible for the land. After an incident two years ago when a large tree on the property fell, making the neighbouring road impassable, it appeared so far that the agency has no current intention of addressing the issues at the site.

He explained: “More than a year ago, a tree on the other side, was close to the edge of the cliff and fell over, blocked the road, and created an emergency situation. Police then after that, informed us that they went to NHC and drew it to their attention out of public concern and asked them to deal with it. They did not respond to that either.”

The retiree expressed hope that the situation would be addressed at the soonest possible time, as the area has now created security and health problem for residents.

He said: “The property poses about three major challenges: the environmental challenge, the health challenge and the security. There are times where you see vehicles driving in and parking there at night, [seemingly] doing illegal activities. The health issue, sometimes there is dumping in the area of dead animals and other things, which contribute to flooding the area with flies. The environmental officer also informed us that the flies at one point affected the [Maurice Byer Polyclinic], which should never be.

“In the public interest for members of this community, this cannot be acceptable.” (SB)