Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE BRUTAL abduction of 32 street people from Montego Bay three years ago, could be repeated if the authorities do not take immediate steps to improve the level of assistance available to the mentally ill, according to the head of one organisation dedicated to caring for the homeless.
Today marks the anniversary of the street people removal on July 14, 1999, and the fear still exists in Montego Bay that history could repeat itself if adequate resources are not put in place to assist persons living on the city's streets. Administrator at the Montego Bay-based Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI), Nurse Joy Crooks, said the issue is far from being resolved.
"I think if you just leave it like this it will happen again," said Nurse Crooks in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week. "It was a dreadful act, not that you're looking for anybody to blame, but to look at what needs to be done. It has to be resolved to a time when it will never happen again."
In the wee hours of the morning, exactly three years ago, 32 homeless persons were tied up, pepper-sprayed and taken by truck to St. Elizabeth, where they were dumped near a mud lake. To this day, three street persons, who were identified as being on the truck that night, have not been seen since.
A Commission of Enquiry into the incident found no one responsible for the act. However, charges were later brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) against Woman Constable Maxine Pindling, garbage contractor Egbert Campbell and St. James Parish Council truck driver, Roger Leslie. The three were later freed of all charges.
The Commission, led by Justice Carl Patterson, recommended a monthly compensation of $20,000 to be paid to each of the victims for the rest of their lives. The 170-page report also recommended that a trust fund be set up to provide resources to meet the needs of the victims.
Head of the Montego Bay Chapter of the human rights group Jamaicans for Justice, Elizabeth Hall, agrees that the incident still remains unresolved. She, too, is of the view that something similar could recur, as the public has not yet been told all the facts surrounding the incident, despite having a Commission of Enquiry.
"I have a theory that if you don't face the facts of a situation then it is going to repeat itself. We didn't face the truth of what happened that night and so it could happen again, maybe in a different way," Mrs. Hall said.
Mrs. Crooks believes the enquiry failed to put adequate systems in place to prevent a recurrence of the street people removal. She said the facilities which now exist are not enough to offer a reasonable chance of rehabilitation to the increasing number of homeless persons in Montego Bay.
"The commission's report made some recommendations, but it does not speak to how we can improve the services for street people in the long run. There are still some inadequacies in the system, and this is causing more people to end up on the streets," she said.
The number of homeless persons on the streets of Montego Bay now number more than 70, according to a survey conducted by CUMI in January this year. At that time, 75 homeless persons were counted on the city's streets. Sixty-seven, or 89 per cent, were male, and eight or 11 per cent female. Of the total number of street persons interviewed, 45 or 60 per cent were believed to be mentally ill, while 21 or 28 per cent were drug addicts. The remainder ended up on the streets as a result of social and/or economic problems.
The increasing number of street persons have also led to an increase in the incidence of abuse meted out to them. In February, two street persons were set ablaze by unscrupulous persons, as they slept on the pavement in Sam Sharpe Square.
