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Is the age of fear over?

May 11, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

A letter sent to this newspaper in November 2015 solicited my assistance in what the complainant alleged was a man of worth usurping public land next to where I live. For reasons I cannot recall, I did not reply to the letter-writer, but when he jogged my memory through the reproduction of his letter and reminder in the April 10 edition of this newspaper, I can remember vaguely his November 2015 missive.
Let me quote from his lamentation; “There is a very wealthy gentleman with huge property holdings who has occupied a squatter lot on the Railway Embankment next to Caricom and directly opposite where Freddie Kissoon lives. This man has built a neat flat house that stands out. That is why I cannot see how Freddie Kissoon could have missed it. If anyone I expect to expose this is Freddie Kissoon. He has a legacy of fighting against injustice. How did he miss this one?
“Did he really miss it or is that he couldn’t be bothered? This construction went on right opposite where Freddie Kissoon lives. Could someone as well connected as this gentleman construct a building next to a settlement of squatters and Freddie Kissoon didn’t see that? Is Kissoon telling me that not even for one day he didn’t see what this fellow was doing? This man’s dwelling stands out like a light on the ocean right in the middle of the squatters’ houses and right in front of Freddie Kissoon’s home.”
The signature, Shakur Abbas Khan, wants me to do something about it. Let me first thank Mr. Khan for the kind words about me in his letter. But I honestly don’t know in what ways I could get involved. I suspect the writer may be a squatter in the nearby area.
Yes, Mr. Khan is right. Many Sunday mornings, my wife and I sat on our verandah having breakfast and I saw the gentleman, Dr. Cecil Rajana, putting up his house across the road. I never paid any attention. At the time of writing, I don’t know if Dr. Rajana is squatting. I know the small dwelling sits right in the heart of the squatting area, but I don’t know if Dr. Rajana is squatting; it may be his land.
On seeing the construction going up, it was logical to think that the land belongs to Dr. Rajana.
I have no idea what is going on there. But I don’t want to intervene, because Mr. Khan has already intervened with his two letters on the subject. If Mr. Khan knows that Dr. Rajana is squatting, then given the fact that he can write two published letters in the newspapers, where do I fit in? I appreciate Mr. Khan’s perception of me, but Mr. Khan has made the issue public. Can’t he take it from there? What am I supposed to do?
Mr. Khan’s letter first appeared in November last year. Assuming Mr. Khan’s fact is fool-proof, where was Minister Keith Scott? Did Scott read Khan’s missive? If he did not, instead of reproducing his publication in April of this year, couldn’t Khan send his mail to the Minister of Housing? The purpose of this column is to inform people like Mr. Khan that they have to help themselves. They cannot rely on others to expose wrong-doing. They have to chip in too. I am not even sure if the signature is that of a real person. If it is not, then the situation becomes more complicated.
Assuming that the name is fictitious, is Khan still afraid to speak his mind in a country where there is a new government that doesn’t seem inclined to victimize people who expose violators? Mr. Khan has reminded me twice – November 2015 and April 2016 – that Dr. Cecil Rajana may be occupying public land. I don’t know if that is so, but am I supposed to investigate? If yes, why me and not the Ministry of Housing?
I hope this column brings an end to Mr. Khan’s advocacy that I intervene. Once more, I would like to thank Mr. Khan for the respect and admiration he has shown to me in his letter and I wish on another level or in another sphere that I could help. But the matter is now in the public domain.
I conclude by clearing the air for Mr. Khan, who hinted that I may know Dr. Rajana and that is why I am silent. I have never met with or spoken to Cecil Rajana. All I know is that there is a man named Cecil Rajana and he built the CARICOM annexe, next to where I live.

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