Government is failing to combat ‘dangerous’ squatting

Oct 26, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

Dr Luncheon announced at a press conference recently that, the ‘high days’ for squatters has come to an end.

The Minister of Housing, Mr. Arfaan Ali has also made noises about squatting leads to the destruction of the drainage system, filthy rubbish dumps and latrines spreading diseases, theft from public utilities and the growth of drugs selling.

Dr Luncheon’s new strategy seems all about imposing on the Courts to apply rigorous measures against deception by squatters. Both private individuals and Government will not have to prove land ownership by Transport, which is a departure from current practices. Transport holders who have migrated abroad and cannot be present in Guyana to defend their interests are used as the reasons for Government’s new move.

The onus will now fall on squatters at such time, when the squatters decide to apply to the Court for an Order for Prescriptive Rights to claim ownership. The Courts will then test the squatter’s application for deception alone and to establish uninterrupted land occupancy over 12 years or more, before an Order can be issued to any new owner. Current Transport owners are now precluded from putting up a defence.

It is a paradox that the testing for deception was not a primary obligation by the Courts in the first place in the delivery of fair and equitable justice, and prior to a Prescriptive Rights Order being issued.

It now appears that the Courts have been instructed by Government on how to deliver on fair and equitable justice. Fundamental questions therefore arise about the independence of the Guyana Judiciary, Government intervention in the judicial process, the credibility of judicial decisions by the Courts and the advancement of democracy.

Dr Luncheon has not disclosed why Government has to wait on squatters to make the first move by applying to the Court, and without any prior action being taken. Relying on the Courts to act as a last resort on squatters may be far too late and when the horse may have already bolted.

Despite the serious risks of the spread of disease, toxic fumes, volatile and decaying material, fire and flooding, many government reserves lands continue to be occupied by squatters. Some may have become legitimate with occupancy of more than 12 years or more, when Court action is a foregone conclusion and due to lack of action by a responsible Government.

Some squatters are using Government reserves with blatant impunity for commercial exploitation. The health, safety and welfare for the young are not remotest of their concerns. Even less so are the effects they imposed on families, the wider community, and the increasing drugs dependency of the vulnerable.

In recent times a gas station at Lima, Essequibo Coast was allowed to be erected on Government’s reserve land with gas storage tanks installed to the side of adjacent dwellings.

Requests were made to Central Housing and Planning, Department of Land and Mines and the Local Authority to provide planning application, approval and compliance. Government agencies were unable to provide any such information. Accountability and transparency are clearly not the ideologies of high esteem, which are being propagated and bitterly defended by a democratic government, its agencies and politicians.

Furthermore, Dr Luncheon did not set out his responsibilities, when it comes to protecting and preserving government reserve lands for the wider interests of the community.

With their new, reduced role versus squatters, the Guyana Government can now behave as if they have also migrated abroad and leaving the Courts to decide on the pros and cons of deception, if little else.

Until there are genuine safeguards against unscrupulous and dangerous squatting on government reserve lands, as Lima gas station, the health, safety and welfare of communities will increasingly come under greater threats and the slow path to destruction.

Mac Mahase

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Government is failing to combat ‘dangerous’ squatting

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