A number of residents of various villages along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) have begun to illegally allocate themselves house lots, claiming that they are acting on a promise made to them by newly elected President David Granger.
When Stabroek News visited Enmore ECD yesterday, persons were present in their numbers busily weeding and marking spots by sticking their names on pieces of board driven into the earth.
Representative of the Enmore Develop- ment Group Amarnauth Sookram expressed his concern noting that he had never experienced any such incident in the 25 years he has lived there.
Sookram said the land persons were seeking to occupy belongs to GuySuco and while it has not been in use, a head office was supposed to be built there. Sookram said he was surprised at the actions of those residents. He said the land comprised some 66 acres. When approached, the residents were reluctant to speak.
Further down, at Success, ECD another set of persons were spotted demarcating land in a cane field. Young boys were seen building a bridge which they said will allow them access to the cane field.
The bridge is expected to be completed by today, they said, and the next step will be to start building. But while some were awaiting the completion of the bridge, others had already made their way across the trench and marked off land.
One of the men there, Eric Daniels, said he is 36 years old with three daughters. “I living in renting house since I know me self, and I decide to join the rest and get myself a piece a land to, because it hard on me fuh wuk and mind my family plus pay rent,” he said. On average, he said, that cane field can accommodate about 300 – 400 houses.
A woman, Emily (only name given) stated, “I paying $20,000 a month rent. I have seven children, two of them handicap and is me alone with them. Is time enough for me to get my own house even if I got to pay something when time come, because I can’t rent house for the rest of my life.” Others expressed similar sentiments stating that they were determined to acquire the land. The illegal activity started in some cases on Tuesday and in others on Friday. People were also seen carrying out the said activity during yesterday in villages such as Better Hope, Mon Repos, Triumph and Annandale.
Contacted, Police Divisional Commander Christopher Griffith said he was aware of the activity and had even visited the areas.
He said he saw nothing wrong with it. He said that if the land is privately owned, then the owners of the lands would need to remove to people and if it was owned by the government, then the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) had to look into the issue.
