By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Cotton Ground, Nevis) ” Thieves are doing a record business in the north part of the island and have been for the past several weeks, sometimes hitting several houses in a single night, and according to several residents of the area, burglary is a nightly occurrence. The main target of this escalating crime wave is the ex-patriot community. The criminals seem to be very efficient in their mode of operation, normally picking only the most valuable and transportable of items, but when they have the time, they are stealing flat screen TVs and even dog food. Last week, Peter Tantram of Ridge Road, placed an advertisement in the Observer, offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves who on September 19, stole a Rolex watch, a Toshiba laptop, two iPods and a Nintendo DS video game. Five houses in his neighborhood were hit in the same night “All of this has been reported to the Cotton Ground Police,” said Mr. Tantram. “We have had no feedback from them. Cotton Ground has so few people living in the area; I find it hard to believe the police have no idea who is doing this.” Sergeant Alonzo Carty of the Nevis Police confirmed there have been a number of burglaries in the area, but no arrests have been made. He also assured The Observer that he would begin providing reports of criminal incidents on Nevis. Another resident of the area, Tony George, said his home was broken into recently, but nothing was taken. “This is the second time they I”ve been broke into,” said Mr. George. “The first time I lost a laptop and a digital camera, but I have learned my lesson. I just don’t keep things like that in the house any more.” David Johnson was broken into three weeks ago while he was away for the night and said there have been about 25 burglaries in his neighborhood in the last four weeks. “They broke into a safe I have and stole $950 and that had to take them a while,” he said “My good watch was stolen and of course, like everyone else, my laptop was stolen. I called the police and Constable Liburd showed up very quickly – in about a half hour. Sergeant Carty called me the next day and said he wanted to try to fingerprint the house. I said sure, but alas, no one ever showed up.” Mr. Johnson has lived on Nevis for 16 years and like all the ex-pats that have made the island their home, he loves Nevis, but the growing trend of crime is changing his lifestyle. “I have installed more lights and I am always double checking to see if the doors are locked,” he said. “It’s too bad it has come to this. My overriding concern is that the ex-pat community is being victimized almost exclusively and there seems to be little concern or passion on the part of the police to catch these thieves. If this keeps up, the word will get out to the rest of the world and no one will want to come here any more.”
