3/10/2010 10:25:00 AM Popular park plagued by 'foul' down-and-outs Residents say beauty spot is a makeshift campsite for drunk and abusive homeless men
* Photo by Kageaki Smith. Marking their turf: A group of men have set up home at Ducking Stool Park in Pembroke, constructing makeshift tents out of crates and tarpaulin.
Vulgar men have turned a popular beauty spot into a no-go zone by setting up their own living quarters.
People are no longer visiting Ducking Stool Park because four foul-mouthed men have "taken over".
The homeless men, who are in their 40s, spend each day sitting on a bench "drinking and guarding" the park entrance on North Shore Road, near Blackwatch Pass, in Pembroke.
If anyone uses the park or its car park, they beg for money and get abusive.
One woman who parked in the car park was accused of "blocking their view".
At night the men sleep under a makeshift tent made out of crates and tarpaulin.
They even go to the toilet in the park, "leaving a smell and mess behind". Residents living nearby keep their shutters closed because they are so fed-up with "the cursing and the smell".
C-Mart, which is directly opposite, is losing business because people are put off stopping at the grocery store.
Nuisance
Andrew Correia, who runs C-Mart with his brother Wayne, said: "We are all fed up with it - these men are a nuisance and a hindrance.
"They have set up home made the park their own. The park now belongs to them. It can no longer be used for recreation.
"No one wants to go in that park as foul language is their language.
"It used to be a popular fishing spot but not anymore. The men sit at the front and hang their coats and helmets on the sign so that you can't even see it's a public park."
Mr. Correia said the men have been hanging around the park for about a year but have recently become a "permanent fixture".
One of the men has become such a nuisance he has now been banned from C-Mart.
Mr. Correia said: "They don't usually cause trouble but it's a very unsightly problem.
"We are losing business - it has affected our sales but no one seems to want to do anything about it, no one seems to care.
"Why would someone want to shop here when they know they are going to get hassled? It puts people off."
Mr. Correia has called the parks department and the police to complain on several occasions. Last week, the parks department served the men with an enforcement notice to remove the makeshift tent every night.
Tents
But Mr. Correia believes the only solution is to cut down the trees so they have nothing to tie their makeshift tent to.
He said: "They are not camping there, they are living there.
"The men are doing it because they can get away with it. Parks and police are not doing anything."
The parks department said rangers monitored the park on a weekly basis and removed any tents.
A spokesman added: "The Ducking Stool area has long been a location where men and women congregate and often engage in anti-social behaviour such as drinking alcohol.
"In the past there have been homeless living in tents and in the caves and they were evicted following an early morning raid with the assistance of the police.
"In February a senior parks officer met with local business operators and spoke to people at the Ducking Stool area and advised them to remove their belongings.
"More recently, parks officers also dealt with some of the men in the area as a tent had been erected. They were given 24 hours to remove the tent and they complied.
"Rangers patrolled the area and found that by and large the area was mostly free of debris.
Illegal
"While it is not illegal for people to erect tents during the day, for picnics and so on, it is illegal to camp in a park overnight without permission from the department. "
The Bermuda Police Service said it was aware of the problem and that officers will continue to actively patrol the area.
Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Comment by:
Ralph B. Coleman
How about if the good men of Bermuda take care of this .That is just what would have happened fifty years ago when I was at Kindley.I am 73 years of age and would have lived my life there if I had been allowed so.
