THE man at the centre of the property demolition controversy in Victoria, East Coast Demerara, has lashed back at the family who called him “a greedy, gold digger pastor”.
While the Christie family has claimed the land on which the demolished house stood, Pastor Saul maintains he is the land title owner.

Seething with anger, he contacted this newspaper, expressing his disgust at the allegations made against him by a group he said is working on the side of the Christies and told untruths in what they gave the media.
While the villagers had stated that the Greco Training Centre operated by Saul has little educative impact on the Victoria students who attend it, the pastor said otherwise.
He said the school was opened in 2003 and had greatly benefitted students from as far as Mahaica and Mon Repos, also on East Coast Demerara, in the fields of welding, numeracy, literacy, woodwork, electrical installation, sewing and agriculture.

Volunteer teachers
He said students are taught at the location by volunteer teachers for a nine-month period after which they are sent to different corporate entities for a two months work/study stint and, many are offered apprenticeships.
Saul said, as long as the students excel within the centre’s curriculum, they are given certificates for their achievements and many of them have been able to secure employment at Banks DIH Limited, in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), GuySuCo, MACORP and other entities.
While a promoter in Victoria had credited the formation of a group to his home, Saul said it was created in his sister’s residence in 1994 and was headed by a now deceased Mr. Burke and, subsequently, Sheldon Huntley who now resides in the United States (U.S.).
Saul said he was elected Chairman of the group in 2001 but, after three years, that position was passed to Michael Spencer. He said the group was created mainly to resuscitate the decaying infrastructure in the village, socially, economically and, of course, morally.
Refuting claims that he would, usually, sell items received from donors and keep the funds for himself, he said the money garnered from the sales is used to keep the school functional.
He said it was the interventions of this same group that caused a European Union (EU) $10M koker to be built to help Victoria and surrounding villages overcome serious drainage and irrigation problems they had faced over the years.
It was also because through the group that Victorians received 1,000 coconut plants and two tons of cassava sticks for cultivation. The group also provided relief to villagers during the 2005 floods in Guyana but he was not surprised that United Nations (UN) and other donor representatives never returned to Victoria after the first visit, charging that the people are “highly ill-mannered and indisciplined.”
He said his group caused villagers to benefit from loans under a special agreement with overseas agencies but they have failed to repay after seven years.

Bank loans
Another beneficiary, in Washington, D.C. facilitated a $2M in bank loans geared at helping villagers to establish businesses and, of the 18 persons who benefited, only two have repaid their debts while the others are either hiding or walking around in “bare faced presumptuousness,” Saul stated.
While rejecting other accusations, he said the new school he is building in Victoria is on his own land and with his own hard-earned dollars.
He shot back at the Christies, declaring they are like vultures who move around the village squatting on land belonging to other people.
He said the family has been doing this for many years now and would apply for prescriptive rights to plots and wage war with the rightful owners.
He said his demolition of the family’s home recently is just a spin-off from several other happenings, since the family is well-known for being kicked off plots belonging to others.