An escalating gang war in the tough inner city community of Waterhouse in lower St Andrew has left at least 20 persons homeless
after several houses in a tenement yard at 63 West Bay Farm Road were torched in the early hours of Monday morning.
Residents are now left fuming as, following an attempt to burn the buildings about two weeks ago, the police had promised to increase patrols in the community.
The gangsters apparently returned shortly after 4:00 am Monday to finish the job. Despite the loss of property, the residents are grateful that there was no loss of life. They had been staying away from the yard after the first attempt was made to set fire to the premises.
According to information reaching Loop News, residents reported hearing an explosion and gunshots in the wee hours of the morning. Shortly after, fire was seen coming from the premises.
“It’s the worst I have seen it and I have lived here all my life said 54-year-old resident Althea James*.
“The young man dem claim that them fighting for turf. Dem claim say man dis man or man kill dem friend. All of them grow up together, dem know each other family,” said the distraught resident.
“And now up the road fighting ‘Back Lane’ and ‘Gully Bank. Is a wicked thing that them do fi burn out the people dem cause dem know nuh gunman nah sleep there,” another resident said.
Other residents are fearful about sending their children to the nearby Balmagie Primary School, which is situated on West Bay Farm Road.
Several houses have been torched and a number of shootings have taken place in sections of Waterhouse amid a gang feud that is nearly two years old.
Waterhouse falls in the South St Andrew police division, a section of which is now under a state of public emergency following an upsurge in crime.
