Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Services (July
27,
2004)
Squatters get double blow
SQUATTERS occupying the Causeway
Fishing Village in St Catherine were yesterday served with a
seven-day notice to vacate the property where they were relocated
to just last Thursday.
The squatters were relocated to
the Hunts Bay side of the narrow neck of land that joins Kingston
and Portmore because they occupied land identified for
construction of a section of Highway 2000. However, the Port
Authority said yesterday that the land belongs to them and the
National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC) was not
given permission to relocate the residents to that area.
"The reason for requiring you
to cease occupation, vacate and deliver up possession of and
remove any temporary structures erected on the said property
within seven days is that you are in illegal possession of the
property which is owned by the Port Authority," the notice
said.
According to the residents,
representatives of the Port Authority, who were accompanied by the
police, visited the site yesterday morning and issued notices of
evictions. The representatives also erected two signs advising
residents that the area was the property of the Port Authority and
that vending and squatting were strictly prohibited.
"The people dem relocate we
over here and now dem (the Port Authority) seh dem nuh know
nothing about it," complained Marva Lynch, who has been a
fish vendor for over 30 years.
NROCC representative Albert
Gillings, in an attempt yesterday to calm the angry residents,
told them that his company was aware of the situation and was
making every effort to sort out the matter.
"I was told today about the
intention to give the fisher folk in this new location
notice," Gillings said. "This is a very unfortunate
situation. NROCC is committed to the relocation of the fisher folk
on the harbour."
The area for the squatters, he
noted, was identified by NROCC. However, he acknowledged that the
Port Authority had expressed concerns about the location.
"They are making claims that this is their property," he
said. "We have made contact with our lawyers and we are going
to have discussions with Port Authority to clarify the situation.
"Within the seven days our
intention is to talk with the Port Authority and discuss whatever
concerns, and we hope to resolve it before the week is
ended," added Gillings.
He advised the squatters to
continue doing business in the area until they were advised by
NROCC, but at the same time expressed concern that some of the
squatters were overstepping the boundaries that were designated by
the company.
Yesterday, Byron Lewis, senior
vice-president of special operations at the Port Authority, stated
that he had no knowledge of the arrangements made with NROCC for
the relocation of the squatters. "There was no consultation
with the Port Authority on that matter... not as far as I
know," he said. "We could not have made any arrangement
with NROCC because that area is designated for expansion of the
berths."
Richard Kelly, senior fisheries
officer at the Fisheries Division in the agriculture ministry,
told the squatters that his department was not aware that they
would be asked to vacate the land. "We did not know that the
Port Authority was going to come and give you notice to leave in
seven days," he said. "Nobody communicated with
us."
He, too, told the residents to stay
put until the matter was rectified. But he warned them that their
present location was only for fishing operations, not for living.
A permanent fishing operation, he said, was being worked on at
Port Henderson, a few metres away.
But despite the assurances
given, the squatters were not satisfied.
"Dem tek time a trick we into
violence and we nah block nuh road and we nah burn down nuh
where," said one angry resident. "We are going to
exercise we constitutional right and we hope nobody nuh vex,"
said the man who did not give his name.
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