City Workers attempt to fleece family of land

Oct 03, 2018 News

Offers them $12M for commercial real estate – CoI hears

Officers of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, (M&CC) are once again facing allegations of corruption.
This time, city officers are being accused of attempting to fleece one family out of a piece of commercial land, they occupied for the past three decades.

The Festival City property at the centre of the probe.

The issue came up for discussion at the Local Government Commission, (LGC) probe into the affairs of the City Hall.
Abiola Saul, who along with members of her family occupied a plot of land located on Blue Mountain Road, Festival City for in excess of 20 years, told the Commission that on November 16, 2016 officers from the City Engineer’s Department came to her residence to offer her a deal.
“They told my husband they were giving us $12M to leave the property alone and that we should accept the money because we are poor people and we can’t get the land.
“But I told them that we are not accepting any money because we had already applied to Lands and Surveys to acquire a lease for the property.”
Mrs. Saul explained that the land was passed down to her husband.
“My father- in- law had been given that land since the 1980s to cultivate, so it is part of my husband’s family. We had a house and shop there and I told them we were not giving up the land so they went away.”
However a few months later, Saul said she had yet another encounter with the city workers.
This time, the woman said the workers returned to the property and completely bulldozed her home and shop.
“They went there while me and my husband were on the road. We got a call from our neighbours that City Council was tearing down our house. When we arrived, the entire place was gone. They had already bulldozed everything.”
The woman estimated her loss to be in excess of $16M.
As a result, Saul said that she visited Mayor Patricia Chase-Green.
“The Mayor told me that she had no knowledge of the incident.”
She noted however that the Mayor never denied that the property was occupied by Morton Saul and his family for the past thirty years.

Abiola Saul points to the concrete rubble which lies on the property after city workers struck a third time.

“The Mayor told us that we can go back and rebuild. I told her I don’t have any money to do that and I needed assistance. But she said that Council is financially embarrassed and could not help the situation.”
Since she did not have the money, the woman recalled that her husband set up two tents on the land and began selling dog food to help bring in some form of income for his family.
Saul recalled that city workers returned to the location again. This time, the workers tore down the tents.
“My husband was there so he and people from city council ended up in a fight.”
Saul said that she returned to the Mayor‘s office again.
“This time, she was told that the tent she was operating under was not acceptable since the place was at the center of a business area. She said I should construct something more suitable.”
“I told her I didn’t even have the money to do that. But I somehow got some help and started to build a concrete structure.
In July 18, last, Council workers returned again and broke down the concrete structure we put up,” a visibly frustrated Saul told the Commission.
The woman said that as result of the last incident, she opted to write to the Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, the President and Minister of State Joseph Harmon.
“Mr. Bulkan promised to see me but never got back to me. The President replied to my letter and said my concerns will be addressed by the Ministry of Social Protection. But to date, I haven’t received word from Social Protection,” Saul said.
The woman told the Commission that in addition to losing her home and business, her family suffered a great deal of distress.
They currently have no fixed place of abode. She, her husband and children have been forced to lodge at other people’s homes.
She is hoping that the Commission of Inquiry, (CoI) would make recommendations for her to be compensated.
In the meantime, the land lies empty with nothing but the broken down concrete structure on it.
When Kaieteur News visited the area, Saul pointed out that even though no one else has sought to occupy the land, three days before Town Clerk of the Georgetown M&CC, Royston King, proceeded on leave to facilitate the investigation into City Hall, the council erected a sign board there.
The sign is announcing the coming of the Ruimveldt Polyclinic and Wellness Centre, a Ministry Of Public Health and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council project.