St James police want The People’s Arcade demolished

Superintendent Eron Samuels, the police commander for St. James, said he would like The People’s Arcade in Montego Bay, which, he said, has emerged over the years as a haven for rampant criminality, to be demolished and better use found for the location.

Speaking in the aftermath of a recent double murder at the arcade, Samuels said that because of the situation there, it is not only an eyesore in the city, but a place that has proven to be very difficult to police.

“We are calling on the authorities to do something about the arcade, it is really a sore eye within the city of Montego Bay, and we believe that it would be better served if demolished and utilised as an expanded public passenger pick-up and drop-off point,” said Samuels.

“Expanding The People’s Arcade into the bus park would allow for a lot more order within the township of Montego Bay, and we would be able to plan the expansion of the town around it,” added Samuels.

Samuels further told The Gleaner he believes that with the negative impact the arcade has been having within Montego Bay, getting rid of it would be of greater benefit than keeping it.

“We know that some small businesses will be affected,” said Samuels, who is also concerned about the unsanitary conditions there. “If you can see the condition of the place here, a lot of the soup vendors, porridge vendors, cotton candy vendors, and jerk men, they use this area to prepare their meals, but this area has no sanitation, no electricity, and no running water.”

HEALTH RISK

Samuels said that the people who are consuming food prepared under unsanitary conditions at the arcade are taking a very big health risk.

“As police officers, we believed it will be better served if demolished and used as a proper infrastructure for transportation, or any other type of development, but it is hard for us to police a place like this, so we are calling on the authorities to come to the table, sit with us, and look at how we can give better use to this arcade,” said Samuels.

Samuels and representatives from the St James Municipal Corporation, the National Water Commission, and the St. James Health Department carried out an operation at the location and got a first-hand look at the deplorable conditions there.

However, the vendors, who are operating at the arcade are opposed to this move. According to them, it would mean they would be left without a place to earn a livelihood.

“A wha dem want wi fi do?” a vendor, who gave her name only as Nicole, asked. “Dem want wi fi go out a street go thief, and then dem same one come kill wi,” a vendor said.

The People’s Arcade, which was constructed in 1996, is located on land owned by the Jamaica Railway Corporation. It was created to house vendors who were displaced during the expansion of Montego Bay’s South Gully.