John Ross (38) arrived at the small park on Barry Road in Risidale to discover the lodgings he claims he and a friend slept in had been removed by JMPD.
“Alfonozo slept here every night but I only stayed here when it was not raining. When it rains, I sleep under a building’s roof (balcony) or somewhere, but he stayed here always. Now it’s gone. I’ve been living here since February. Eish.”Alfonzo, he claimed, had been living there for a long time.
Ross claimed that their blankets, a bed base they slept on and other items had all been taken by JMPD while he and Alfonzo were out during the day, which is normal, as they try to find odd jobs or panhandle for work. Ross had arrived back after assisting a homeowner move some boxes as a small job.
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“We are back to square one and I will now have to find something to cover myself with tonight. He (Alfonzo) doesn’t know his stuff is gone yet, it’s sad.”
When asked what he would do now, he said, “This is life, it has ups and downs. Today we are kicked down but we will just have to try and start again. Eish, it’s hard.”
He claimed the pair liked the corner of the small park because they were not in anyone’s way and it was relatively safe because private security was present in the area, making it safer than many other places.
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André Aiton of Beagle Watch Armed Response requested JMPD to remove the structure the men were living in. He said, “Beagle Watch is on a [WhatsApp] group in that area where we monitor and could see that vagrants had moved into the park and we took a proactive way to report this to JMPD to deal with. Beagle Watch is only a conduit to report matters like this to authorities.”
In screengrabs of these conversations provided by Aiton, a resident wrote, “Can this be addressed. It’s behind the new complex, opposite Burger King – think it’s on city parks land. Semi-permanent structure with fire burning.”
Aiton replied, “Let’s trust in our Contact [JMPD] as I have never not seen it work.”
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JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla, when approached for comment, said they conducted a clean-up operation of the park, and denied that there were people living there, and thus that an eviction had taken place. “Nobody was evicted, there was abandoned goods that were taken away by JMPD. Nobody will leave goods unattended in a public space.
The structure you are referring to was deemed to have been abandoned as on more than one occasion (day and night) JMPD members from different shifts attended to this particular story… JMPD officers found goods that were deemed to have been abandoned. The removal thereof is to discourage other vagrants from moving in.”
He claims the ‘shelter’ being referred to was nothing more than a plastic sheet. “There wasn’t a bed –only a small round black bed that an animal sleeps on.”
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While clothing and items used for cooking and eating could be seen near to where the structure had been, JMPD denied that officers had seen the items and said that the focus of the operation had only been the area against the precast wall where the structure had been. “Nothing prevented the complainant from ‘staging’ a scene that would have suited this situation knowing a journalist was going to be present. JMPD disputes the existence of this alleged resident whom you interviewed.”
Fihla also pointed out that it is JMPD who is responsible for maintaining by-laws in the city under Public Opens Spaces By-Laws – Section 17 (1)(c). No person may within a public open space erect, build or assemble any structure including a hut or tent, or Section 13 (c) nor may any person camp or reside within a public open space.
Fihla said, “Under the circumstances related to this case, no court order was needed as there are by-laws in place.”
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