Dwight Nelson, Gleaner Writer

MAY PEN, Clarendon:

The multimillion-dollar extortion racket at the May Pen bus park is having a crippling effect on transport operators in Clarendon.

Several bus and taxi operators who operate out of the two major bus parks in the parish capital, May Pen, fork out large sums of money to extortionists who continue to target the transportation hubs.

The Gleaner has learnt that bus operators who operate from May Pen to Kingston pay up to $500 per trip to extortionists, while cabbies and minibus operators who ply the routes within the parish pay up to $100 per trip.

"It is a serious problem, which is affecting most, if not all, of us at this time. We are afraid to report it to the police because if these persons find out, then we would die," one taxi operator told The Gleaner.

He added that even when business was down, they still had to pay thugs.

Denial

Clarendon top cop Superinten-dent Dayton Henry conceded that extortion was a real problem and said the police would have to engage in covert operations to bust the network. However, Henry said the reluctance of business persons to rat out the perpetrators was hampering investigations.

"None of these operators has ever reported a single case of extortion to the police and one of the problems we are having is that whenever the police ask them if they are paying extortionists, a straight 'no' is their answer," he said.

Henry further stated the police were expecting to make significant breakthroughs as soon as they had gathered sufficient evidence.

President of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, Aldo Brown, believes the claims of extortion among the business community are overblown.

"It is difficult to comment on the situation of extortion in the parish when it comes to the business community," Brown told The Gleaner. "However, we do not see any major signs of extortion plaguing us at this time."

The chamber president said extortion was a scourge in the past, but that strong partnership between business persons and the police had curtailed the practice.

"I still hear of concerns of extortion rackets in the two major bus parks in May Pen," said Brown. "However, no one is coming forward with information, so we can only speculate on the issue."