Sarah Johanna squatters refuse Govt’s assistance to relocate

– owner of lands threatens legal action

Some squatters at Sarah Johanna, East Bank Demerara (EBD), who are illegally occupying approximately four acres of private lands, are refusing Government’s assistance to relocate.

On Sunday, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall and Public Affairs Minister Kwame McCoy visited the area where they held a meeting with the aggrieved residents.
The Attorney General informed the squatters that the Government will not intervene in the matter as it is a transported property owned by Rafiek Baksh. He further informed them that the Constitution of Guyana protects the owner’s private property and there is nothing the Government can do, but to move the squatters to another location.

According to Nandlall, there is currently a dispute in the area involving 24 families who are squatting on the private property. He said that the Government through the Housing Ministry has offered house lots to these persons but some have refused the offer.
“Unfortunately, they are not all in agreement. The Government remains ready to relocate the squatters once they are prepared to be relocated and we have that offer open,” Nandlall noted.
The information of those who are willing to accept the Government’s offer was documented. According to the Attorney General, it is now left up to the owner of the land to consult with his lawyers to seek legal intervention to resolve the dispute.

The power of attorney of the landowner was present at all meetings between the Ministers and the residents during which the transport for the disputed property was presented. But the squatters are refusing to remove on the basis that they have been living there for years.
In late October, the issue between the squatters and the landowner had escalated. There was a standoff in the form of a protest between the squatters and the private land developer who had taken heavy-duty equipment in an attempt to block the main drainage canal as well as excavate a farm on which one of the squatters planted.
As a result, a team comprising of Nandlall, McCoy, and Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues as well as officials from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) met with both the squatters and private developer.
The Attorney General had told this publication that both sides had come to an agreement for the State to take certain actions whereby the GL&SC would conduct an occupation survey of the persons on the land and identify the parameters for the land covered by the transport in possession of the developer.
“I made it very clear that the Government is simply attempting to mediate and will assist in bringing a resolution if one is possible. I further made it clear that squatting is wrong and the Government will not encourage or countenance squatting. I emphasised that property – both owned by the State and owned by private individuals must be respected and the Government will not take sides.”
“Certainly, the Government will not facilitate private property being unlawfully taken by squatters except if the squatting satisfies the legal requirement to confer the squatter with ownership by prescription,” Nandlall had pointed out.
According to the Attorney General, most of those persons on the back half are clearly squatters who have not been there for 12 years so they would not have acquired prescriptive titles.
The Attorney General had clarified that there are two portions of land at Sarah Johanna owned by two different individuals. The front half of the land – which extends from the public road – contains occupants who have been there for over 20 years.
Many of these persons have filed for prescriptive titles in the land court. According to Nandlall, who had represented these persons while practicing privately, while some of those persons have already been granted and received their transport from the court, the other proceedings are pending.
He added that in some other instances, residents had entered into agreements of sale for plots of land from the owner and those transactions are being dealt with. However, the portion of land at the back part of Sarah Johanna is what is under dispute, Nandlall had explained.
He noted that this portion of land is currently owned by Baksh, who has appointed Abdool Azim as his power of attorney. Azim was present at all the meetings held between the Government officials and the squatters. During her visit there, Minister Rodrigues took the opportunity to register the squatters for house lots.