Armed gangs backing squatters

Well-known attorney Gordon Brown says armed gang members from outside the community are thwarting his six-year-long effort to curb squatting on sections of 167 acres of land he owns in Flamingo Beach, Trelawny. Even a private security firm, he said, has refused the job of protecting the property from being further overrun.

Brown has submitted plans to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) for an integrated development that includes resort and entertainment facilities in addition to a residential component, but he is unable to proceed as the land is littered with structures at various stages of construction.

In his view, apart from the TMC, which has publicly expressed concern about the stalled development, little has been done by State agencies to help him with his battle.