A SIXTH Avenue resident woke one night to his son telling him; “daddy, I can’t sleep, there’s a man outside my window.”
The house backs onto the Leichhardt Riverbed where groups of people are lighting fires and destroying abandoned cars.
They go to the toilet in the middle of the riverbed as evident by the smell, the dried remains and the toilet paper.
And the resident’s children can hear the bad language and screaming, smell the toxic smoke from the car tyres burning, and walk in the backyard where deodorant cans and wine casks are thrown into.
“I even heard a woman one night sounding like she was being raped last Tuesday night, the sounds of her swearing, her saying ‘leave me alone’, ‘get the f—k away from me,’ ‘don’t touch me,’ the resident said.
He phoned triple-0 and the police were there within 10 minutes. Still, the social issue remains.
The resident did not want to be identified because of any risk to his children and business, but wanted to know what will be done to stop the problem that has worsened in the last eight months.
“As a ratepayer, I have to abide by lots of rules,” the resident said.
“They are breaking laws on a regular basis and no one is getting punished for this.”
Police had told the resident there was nothing they could do because there was nowhere else for the illegal campers to go to.
Police told him the illegal campers were mostly from the Northern Territory.
His wife was home alone late one night when concerned by the behaviour in the riverbed and rang the police.
“They said ‘there’s nothing we can do.’ I said ‘I am here on my own where do I go for help, you’re the police.’ They said go to the Mount Isa City Council,’” she said.
“I can’t contact Local Laws officers at 1am.”
A Mount Isa District Police spokesperson was sought for comment on riverbed campers but did not respond for clarification on the issue.
