Get out, squatters! - Operators want to regain control of People's Arcade

The Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) is now taking a militant stance in its bid to take control of the People's Arcade in Montego Bay, which has become a haven for social disorder and resistance by equally militant squatters, who have refused to leave the premises.

Fitzroy Williams, the chief executive officer of the JRC, recently told the WESTERN STAR that the JRC will be serving the notices even though JRC agents have been threatened.

"The JRC attempted to have a general clean-up of debris and garbage from the facility on September 25. However, the persons living in the arcade became threatening and intimidating, leading to the JRC agents to remove themselves from the area out of fear for their lives," said Williams. "We did report it (to the police), and notwithstanding this, the JRC will have notices to quit (vacate) the property served on all residents, shortly."

Williams added that despite the opposition that the JRC has faced in seeking to restore the arcade to a viable commercial space, it will continue its effort to reclaim the facility and put it in good order.

"We will continue to make all efforts to bring law and order to the unregulated, unsanitary and crime-affected facility," said Williams.

Last October, the JRC announced plans to take charge of the People's Arcade, where squatters had converted several shops into dwellings and compounded their illicit occupation with illegal electricity and water connections.