NDIA proposes to jail squatters

Mar 10, 2017 News

National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has issued a strong warning to persons who continue to dwell and produce food on the drainage reserves illegally. They will face jail time once the practice remains, NDIA said.
According to Fredrick Flatts, Chief Executive Officer of NDIA, anyone caught dwelling on the reserves would have to pay a fine of $25,000, and serve three months in jail,
“We have spoken to people in the past about these behaviors and they refuse to desist. They don’t understand the seriousness of what they are doing. By refusing to move they are hindering the works of the NDIA,” Flatts said.
Flatts added that persons normally plant crops on the reserves which has proven to be difficult in trying to get them to remove. “Some of them even threaten us by saying that if we remove their crops we would have to compensate them for their losses.
“One farmer even said to some of the NDIA workers that he will chop them up if they damage his produce. That among complaints by workers are some reasons NDIA decide to go in this direction,”
Flatts said that this move is crucial “as we continued to work towards permanently improving the drainage situation in Guyana.”
“We want people to understand that it is necessary to get our 2017 budgeted drainage programme up and running. Given the number of unlawfully constructed structures for domestic and commercial purposes, drainage work has been hindered. As a result, many areas have been prone to have flooding which resulted in millions being injected to offset damage to homes and other businesses.”
According to a farmer, the government just wants to pressure its people. “They are giving us a hard time to get a piece of farm land, and when we try to make a living on a small section of land they want jail us for that,” the farmer lamented.

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