– after squatters on GuySuCo’s land clash with police

By Naomi Parris
PERSONS occupying lands south of the railway embankment in Vryheid’s Lust, Success and Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara, have been invited to initiate the process for land allocation.

The Ministry of Housing and Water in a release said it will be hosting an exercise today at the Chateau Margot Primary School geared at assisting these families in their quest for lawful homeownership.

“Persons are invited to visit the venue from 08:00hrs and walk with a valid form of identification (passport or national identification card), proof or affidavit of income, TIN certificate, and marriage certificate, if applicable. For persons with children below the age of 18, copies of their birth certificates are required. Applications forms will also be available at the venue.
“The ministry is committed to facilitating this process, as it is the first step in the direction of legally owning a plot of land from the agency.
“For persons who have an existing application in the ministry, if there is a need for updated information to be added, this will be facilitated as well.
“The ministry wishes to assure that all applications will be dealt with in due process as we recognise the demand and the need for adequate housing as a basic human right,” the ministry said in a release.

PROTEST
Just after lunch on Wednesday pandemonium broke out when squatters occupying GuySuCo’s lands at Vryheid’s Lust, Success and Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara, got word of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited’s (NICIL) action to remove an access bridge and take over the said area.
When the Guyana Chronicle arrived at the scene several persons were stranded, as the main access bridge to the squatting area was destroyed, preventing persons from leaving or entering the area.

Sharon Glasgow, who took up home in the said area, told this newspaper that residents began to protest after ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and officials of NICIL arrived at their dwelling place and sought to remove the only access to the lands.

She noted that persons who settled in the area stood on the bridge and staged a protest, insisting that they would not be moved.
Glasgow claimed that she had applied for a house lot in 1992 and governments, including the coalition government, did not honour her request. A perusal of her document indicated that she is qualified for a middle-income lot.

Another woman claimed that she too had applied for a house lot some time ago but did not receive word from the authorities.
One man who shared his name as “Foots,” disclosed that he was not at home when the protest started but after receiving the news, he quickly returned home.
“When I got here, they already breaking the bridge and when the people them there stand for them to don’t break the bridge, they start firing tear gas and pellets… a lot of people get hit with pellets,” “Foots” related.

The man, who is an amputee, noted that he has been occupying a piece of land in the area for some six months now with his family.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said government would provide some 50,000 house lots in the next five years.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) in a press statement following the protest confirmed its ownership of the lands at Vryheid’s Lust, Success and Chateau Margot on the East Coast of Demerara.

“These lands are the property of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s East Demerara cultivation (Enmore Estate) and hereby advise these persons to immediately desist from such occupation,” the statement said.
The corporation also noted that it is in the process of reviving operations at East Demerara and squatting on the said lands is hindering the land-preparation process.

VANDALISATION
“A number of fields in the cultivation house the corporation’s germplasm collection which is vital for the corporation’s cane-breeding programme. Some of these fields have been vandalised by the squatting activities, resulting in the destruction and/or loss of material developed over a decade of scientific research in variety improvement, therefore setting back the development of better-yielding varieties by a number of years,” GuySuCo said.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force in a press statement noted that following several attempts to maintain the peace in the area, persons were asked to desist from protest action; however, they responded aggressively, forcing ranks to take immediate action.

“During this engagement, persons became aggressive and hostile towards the officials and the police ranks and began throwing a bombardment of missiles at them. This continued despite the police calling on the citizens to desist from such activities. As a result the police resorted to the use of tear smoke and rubber bullets to maintain law and order,” the release stated.
Subsequent to the shots, the crowd brought forward a male who was injured by the rubber bullets. He was escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he is receiving medical attention. His injuries are not regarded as life-threatening.

Picture saved as: squatters 1
Caption: Sharon Glasgow displays a document purportedly from the Central Housing and Planning Authority which shows when she had first applied for a house lot
Picture saved as: squatters 2
Caption: One resident who shared his name as “Foots”