– pastor produces what appeared to be legal documents to support his side of the story
RESIDENTS of Victoria, East Coast Demerara, have condemned the action of a pastor from the village, who demolished the house in which an extended family of 20 was living, allegedly without lawful permission, leaving them homeless.

They have since taken refuge in a makeshift camp they built using some materials from the destroyed building that villagers said was on a disputed plot of land.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited the scene on Sunday, the sad and forlorn group told their story.
Head of the household, Albert Christie, 70, related that, on Thursday last, Pastor Desmond Saul arrived with two court marshals, four policemen and several other men, who proceeded with the demolition even though they had not evacuated the premises.
The Christies number 20, inclusive of Mrs. Seelwantie Christie, siblings, grandchildren and sons-in-law.
Mr. Christie said they had lived there for more than 40 years as tenants and had, several years ago, obtained a legal transport, from the owner referred to as V. Sandiford, for the land on which the structure stood.
The transport, seen by this newspaper, was dated as number 46 of 1965 and Christie said, although Saul provided what appeared to be a High Court document authorising the destruction, a visit to the Registrar failed to secure any record of it.
Christie said that the pastor had been fighting the family for the land over many years during which they have been involved in a Court case that was dismissed on July 5, 2012.

DOCUMENTED PROOF
He said, while the pastor claimed he had bought the land from the previous owner, he could not show any documented proof.
Mrs. Seelwantie Christie lamented that Saul and his crew tore down the structure, damaging furniture, clothing, electrical appliances and many other valuable items inside.
She claimed several pieces of jewellery were missing after the destruction and other family members added that the demolition crew broke up sinks, toilet bowls and everything of value, as they looked on in shock and horror.
Mrs. Christie complained that, because of the destruction, her thriving cassareep factory that provided them a major income was completely destroyed. She also lost 200 ducks, 150 fowls and a large number of pigs which ran  ‘helter skelter’ during the exercise, speculating that the livestock went astray and she has no way of tracking them down.

The family is claiming close to $20M through the loss of the house and other property and Mr. Christie said he suffered severe back and stomach injuries, verified by a doctor’s medical certificate, when the edifice came crashing down.
The Christies, who said they now sleep in uncomfortable conditions, said Saul, who preaches at  Victoria Brethren Church, had vehemently declared that, if he would not get them out “in peace” they will “come out in pieces.”

But when he was contacted at his residence, not far from the demolished building, he produced what appeared to be legal documents to support his story and said the house had rightfully belonged to the Skeetes many years ago and he had lived with them ‘on and off’ when he was not travelling overseas.
He said, when he came back to Guyana in 1971, the Skeetes were no longer living there and the house was then occupied by the now deceased Jacob Waldron.
Saul said he resided in it between 1971 and 1979 and went abroad, again, pointing out that, up to then, the Christies were nowhere around.
He said, in 1985, during the tenancy of Pansy Peters, the Christies moved in, too.
However, when he had come back to Guyana in 1971, he began to make arrangements to buy the land from then owner, V. Sandiford, with attorney-at-law Mr. David Wray handling the matter.
According to Saul, he went to Canada in 1980 when the deal was not completed but, after Sandiford travelled to the United States (U.S.), he approached the Court and obtained title for the land in 1986. Since he was abroad, a friend of his uplifted the deed.

WROTE LETTERS
Saul said he, subsequently, wrote letters notifying all the tenants of his ownership and offered them a lease arrangement if they were so desirous.
At that time four tenants were sharing the building, inclusive of the Christies and he tried, for years, to get them off the land but they just refused to budge.
In 2004, he said he ventured to the Court, with hopes of having the family removed from the premises but, sometime in that year, they, suddenly, turned up with a transport, claiming title to the land.
He said his investigations confirmed that their transport was fraudulently obtained and, as such, was cancelled by the Law Court.
The preacher said he continued to plead with the Christies who will promise to move at various dates but always failed to do as indicated.
The pastor said, on reporting the matter, he was advised by the Police to approach the Law Court, which he did in October last year and received an order to demolish the building. He said, in December 2012, he, again, spoke to the family in the presence of two court marshals and they undertook to move in January this year. When they failed to stick to the specified date, he, then, got the marshals and police to act.
While the Christie family is claiming millions in losses as a result of the pastor’s action, Saul said their claims are all “lies and rubbish.”
He said, on Thursday, the Court Marshals got specific orders to remove all the possessions of the family from within the home and have them witness the process.
He said all were placed safely on a vacant lot nearby and the Christies collected “every piece.”
He said after the demolishers left and he returned to the location, the evicted family came at him, brandishing pieces of wood but he stood his ground and they, eventually, backed off.

WAS  CHARGED
Saul said one female, however, blocked the gate to the demolished remains, with the aim of preventing him from passing and, when he brushed past her on the way out, she began shouting that he had pushed her and groped her breast. She, later, made a report to the police to that effect and he was charged as a result of the allegation.
He said while visiting the very location on one occasion, previously, the same woman had blocked his passage to the building, brandishing a cutlass and asking him if he had seen a coffin he liked.
The pastor said each time he went to work on his nearby farm, the family would blow horns and call him all kinds of nasty names and though they claim they have nowhere to go, they own two other houses in the village to where they can comfortably relocate.
He declined to have his picture taken, on the basis of security, stating that the Christie family was making serious verbal threats to him since they were thrown out.