Yesterday when Mayor and City Council (M&CC) officials attempted to demolish squatters’ shacks along the outfall channel on Front Road, West Ruimveldt it sparked outrage among the residents who took to the streets in objection.
Around noon a large crowd amassed after they realised what was going on. Previously, the M&CC announced that it would be doing drainage works around the city. Public Relations Officer Royston King had told this newspaper that the outfall channel in the area needed de-silting but squatters on the dam were an obstruction to the activity.
Angry residents said the M&CC officials arrived and started to demolish the shed of a shop saying that they needed to put a machine there to clean the channel. The woman whose shed was demolished, Yonette Retemiah, said she has been living there for eight years.
She said she was not at home when the M&CC officials arrived, but her cousin who was there said they did not give any warning before they destroyed the shed. The M&CC officials also destroyed a fence at the back of her home.
When contacted Mayor Hamilton Green said he was not told of the exercise. He added that the engineer was “acting on the Town Clerk’s instruction”. Calls to the Town Clerk’s office went unanswered yesterday.
Police had to be called in to monitor the situation. By the time this newspaper arrived on the scene, M&CC officials had left without desilting the outfall.
