Springing up behind the bushes, these houses are reportedly owned by squatters who have moved unto the Retirement property in St. James.
Monique Hepburn & Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporters
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE 1800-ACRE Retirement property in St. James lies three miles west of Montego Bay's city centre. The property has had a distinct history as a successful sugar plantation, however, remnants of earlier Taino inhabitants are still evident.
Today, this sprawling property hosts a 465-acre forest reserve, marl quarries, three Operation Pride housing sites, namely Retirement Phase One and Two and Meadows Vale. One hundred acres has been earmarked for the St. James Parish Council with 17 acres assigned to the Retirement Solid Waste Disposal Facility. The remainder is to house a new cemetery for the parish.
On a recent visit to Retirement, The Sunday Gleaner witnessed first hand, the depressed state of the housing sites in the area. Illegal electrical connections ran along the dirt tracks leading into the settlement. There were no signs of a regularised electricity supply system including street lighting. We soon learnt that there was no formal water
supply in the area.
Numerous civil servants and other middle-income wage earners have invested millions of dollars into the property and are now rushing to have their money reimbursed. Some houses have been completed with their owners scared to move in, as the area has become a haven for criminality.
A man, who said he has been living in the area since 1996 and who identified himself only as George, told The Sunday Gleaner that in the absence of street lights, some residents were being robbed on the roadways at night.
"When 7 o'clock come, everywhere shut down. People have to stay in because they are afraid of what might happen to them. Even if you leave your
building supplies, as you drop it, people steal it."
