By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

EASTERN Road residents are calling on the government to intervene and clean up a property they claim is not only an eyesore, but a refuge for criminals.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Charles Farrington said the building, on the corner of Dodge Road and the Eastern Road, has been linked to criminal activity for quite some time.

“It is a very vexing problem to the neighbourhood. Its been abandoned by the owners, they left it almost 20 years ago,

“There is very strong evidence that criminal activity was taking place there. We have some major crime issues in this area and the surrounding areas.

“People have been raped, homes have been broken into, cars have been vandalised and most of this criminal activity can be traced back to this house. People are seen going in and out of there all hours of the night,” he said.

“We are going into the Christmas season and crime normally escalates around this time. We just want to make the neighbourhood safe. But the house is also an eyesore and brings down the property value in a very nice neighbourhood.”

Mr Farrington said he contacted the owner of the property on a number of occasions to ask that it be cleaned up, to no avail.

He then contacted Urban Renewal, which has a derelict lot clearing programming, but this was a dead-end as well.

“I contacted Superintendent Stephen Dean from Urban Renewal, met with him and explained the problem. He sent Inspector McPhee, who viewed the property and assured me that something would be done,” he said.

“After a month, I called him and he said they were still working on it.”

Mr Farrington said that a few weeks later, after not hearing anything, he called the police again and was told that they had spoken to the owner and were moving forward.

“After another month, I called back and he told me it was out of their hands now and a process has to done. He said Urban Renewal could not just demolish a property without speaking to owner. My question is, how long does this process take? This is ridiculous.”

Supt Dean told The Tribune yesterday he understands the plight of the residents, but the police must follow procedure.

He said: “We are in negotiations with the owners. These things just do not happen overnight. We cannot just clean up people’s property because someone wants us to. It is up for the owner to do that.

“If there is no owner then we can move in to do it. Certain things have to take place.

“It is just one of many properties we are working on,. It has been brought to our attention and we are working to correct it. We did our part now it is up to the owners.

“It is not the government’s responsibility to clean up people’s properties. Now, after the process, if they refuse to do it, then the minster can step in. He has the authority under the law.

“We check the house periodically to make sure there are no vagrants. We are doing our part.”

The owner was not available for comment up to press time.