‘Bow Tie Land’ a nest for criminals
Published:Friday | March 1, 2019 | 12:00 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
The St Andrew South police, in recent times, have placed the spotlight on an area of Greenwich Town known as ‘Bow Tie Land’, off Spanish Town Road, which they say gunmen have been utilising as a safe haven.
Officer in charge of operations, Deputy Superintendent of Police Shane McCalla, told The Gleaner that members of the Force have been maintaining constant surveillance of the area, a section of which also houses a National Water Commission (NWC) sewage-treatment plant. And because of the unkept state of the location, with overgrown bushes, it makes for the perfect hideaway for criminal entities to use as a den at nights.
“It’s a place gunmen use as an active point to hide and to evade the police and is a direct security and health threat to the public,” said McCalla when contacted by The Gleaner.
Consequently, a meeting was arranged with the National Environment and Planning Agency to see how best to liaise with the NWC to see how the location can be better managed so as to dissuade criminals from using the property to plan their nefarious deeds.
“We, the police, have great interest in that space because you have rival factions there who want to have the area under their control. It is very delicate, so we have to monitor it and have assets and police presence round the clock as well as have continued operations to keep the place sterile of criminal activity,” said McCalla.
He said that several previous operations carried out there resulted in the seizure of a number of illegal weapons and a great deal of ammunition.
“That place definitely poses a security nuisance and a risk. It’s significantly overgrown with shrubs, and then the sewage, of course, is of itself a public-health concern,” the officer noted.
Residents who live close to Bow Tie Land, have welcomed the presence of the police and have confirmed that illegal activities have been taking place there under the cover of night.
“I feel safer whenever I see the police driving down that road. It’s been a very dangerous place for a long time, so we glad they are paying it some attention now,” one resident said. If possible, they would welcome more police presence in order to stave off gang-related activities in their ‘backyard’.