All others on the Railway Embankment had agreed to go elsewhere
The Saturday morning demolition of the K.P. Thomas Consultants building on the railway embankment at the corner of High and Lamaha Streets is the culmination of efforts by the government lasting over three years to have the business removed, Head of the Presidential Secretariat/Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, said yesterday.
He told a reporters at a press briefing hosted at the Office of the President that the business had, like others who had occupied the embankment, been given orders to remove from the area.
The area is now being used by the Guyana Power and Light as a conduit pathway for high tension wires that will run from Georgetown to Sophia. All other persons who previously occupied the area, with the exception of K.P. Thomas, have complied with the order.
“His (K.P. Thomas ) squatting days on the embankment are over, they are no more,” said Dr Luncheon, who recalled that since the closure of the railroad from Georgetown to Rosignol in the 1970s, the fixed and moveable assets have been put to various usages, including squatting.
The HPS noted that among the strategic usage is the reversal of an earlier policy that allowed for the indiscriminate and ill-defined usage of the property, commonly known as squatting.
But with the onset of the PPP Government in 1992, a more strategic focus was introduced and sections of the railroad have incrementally been converted to more.
It was on the latter basis that the administration has moved, “firmly” but in “a reasonable way”, to deal with those who have enjoyed unauthorised, illegal but obviously sanctioned usage of those assets, Dr Luncheon added.
“His refusal has been a consistent one that has relied on his access to the law, and at the bottom line, total refusal and rejection, flaunting his power and mocking the authority. This is the sum total of our (Government ) three years plus saga to get K.P. Thomas to move.”
The HPS noted as well that the company seemed not to have taken into consideration the health and safety concerns of his workers, while work was ongoing to run the high tension electricity wires and even after.
Luncheon also debunked alleged statements in sections of the media that the action taken by the Government was not supported by due process, that there were no formal engagements, and that K.P. Thomas had been paying rent, pointing out that the company was treated no differently than all the other squatters and business people who have removed, and who had agreed to remove from the embankment for its more productive purpose.
“The insult was brought to an end and as expected he has secured his sympathy from misguided, misinformed, like-minded people who use their powers and influence, to bribe and shout out loud,” he said.
The building and others in the immediate vicinity were demolished on the orders of Minister of Hydraulics and Transport, Robeson Benn, amid high drama as officials of K.P. Thomas sought to stop the demolition by the use of vehicles and also by securing an injunction.
Amid the confusion, Minister Benn arrived on the scene and the demolition continued under the watchful eyes of armed police ranks.
In April this year, a row erupted over the non-payment of some $5M rent to K.P. Thomas by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the use of a building on High Street, Kingston, which the company owns and rents to the Commission for use as its administrative office.
GECOM staff, including its Chief Executive Officer, Gocool Boodoo, were met with huge concrete slabs blocking entry to the building when they turned up for work.
Minister Benn had intervened then, by going on the scene and ordering workers employed by his Ministry to remove the concrete slabs. The Minister had said that the building was a “government occupied facility” and he was “removing the obstruction to its use”.
Kenrick Thomas and Ken Thomas, both administrators of the company, and of 28-30 Agricola Public Road, East Bank Demerara, were subsequently charged for obstruction.