Left - Wheatley: The police need to do their job. Right - Bent: The operation of bus parks and taxi terminals is for the parish council.

The police and the St Catherine Parish Council are trading blame for the failure to shut down an unofficial bus park in Spanish Town, which is rife with organised extortion.

Spanish Town Mayor Andrew Wheatley yesterday insisted that the parish council does not receive revenue from the bus park located on March Pen Road, adjacent to the Spanish Town Shopping Centre.

Wheatley also told The Gleaner that the widely known illegal activities taking place at the location were a police matter.

"That is an unofficial car park and not a parish council car park," he said. "The police need to do their job."

Blind to operations

In recent weeks, The Gleaner has examined the intricacies of a well-known extortion network operating in the Old Capital.

On Monday morning, Island Special Constabulary Force policemen walked past the bus park, blind to the operations taking place and proceeded to target Burke Road, charging two taxi drivers for traffic offences.

In the unofficial bus park, there are at least two men operating at a time, with each assigned to collect from the drivers on various routes.

Yesterday, Superintendent Terrence Bent, acting head of the St Catherine North Police Division, scoffed at Wheatley's claims that the police should be looking into the extortion at the bus park.

He said the matter was a parish council concern as no reports had been made to the police from the parish council.

"The operation of bus parks and taxi terminals is for the parish council. If it is illegal, they need to do something because those are civil matters, not criminal," Bent said.

"If there is an illegal bus terminus operating anywhere, that is a civil occasion. The police will have to come in if they need support to prosecute persons."

Parish council responsible

According to Bent, the parish council, by law, is responsible for the operation of roads and related facilities.

"If there is a breach, they need to see that we have a formal interpretation of what is happening there," he said.

Up to three years ago, the unofficial bus park did not exist. However, in a relatively short period, the extortionists were able to set up the park and get passenger vehicle operators inside.

Bus operators who ply the downtown Kingston to Spanish Town and Half-Way Tree to Spanish Town routes, as well as taxi drivers who operate within the town and the other routes, are forced to use the park.

Bus operators have to pay a fee of $750 a day, while taxi drivers pay $50 a trip.

The men in the park have enforcers who wait by the intersection of Young Street and Burke Road with large sticks, which they use to 'encourage' passenger carriers to use the park for loading.

Assault on rural operators

Bus operators from rural areas are rarely allowed to stop to pick up passengers when these men are around, as the sticks are used to assault them.

"Hurry up and step up inna di bus before dem man de see. We can't afford no lick today," one conductor said on a trip The Gleaner team took on a bus.

Taxi operators now stop outside the bus park, or filter through the Texaco service station where they fill their tanks and prepare to travel to destinations such as Old Harbour, Kitson Town or Eltham Park.

However, before the taxis depart, a lean young man dressed in jeans, a tight T-shirt and cap usually appears to collect a departure fee.

Some drivers, often in vain, plead with the man, promising to pay on their next trip. However, as they attempt to drive off, another man usually sits on the bumper of the taxis to prevent them from leaving without paying.