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Stand-off continues between Success squatters and police
– Squatters say they will not go to Graham’s Hall Shelter
The excavator that was used to block the pathway cleared by squatters.
Kaieteur News – After having yet another stand-off with police ranks, squatters of the Success area on the East Coast of Demerara have maintained that they will not be moving to the Graham’s Hall Shelter.
Residents of the area told Kaieteur News that the standoff began around 1pm yesterday when ranks of the Guyana Police Force showed up demanding that they vacate the lands immediately. When this publication arrived at the scene police ranks could be seen telling the squatters that their presence on the land is unlawful as it belongs to the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated/National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (GuySuCo/NICIL).
The police told the squatters that they have an alternative of seeking shelter at the Graham’s Hall Primary school, which the government has offered to them, but despite this, the residents said that they will not be moving.
Over the weekend the government ordered the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to prepare the school as a shelter after Prime Minister, Mark Phillips, visited the area promising the squatters to shelter them if they move.
In explaining their stance, the residents told Kaieteur News that the number of squatters in the area is too high and they cannot all fit in the shelter. It was also noted that amid a pandemic, it is nearly impossible to house so many people while enforcing social distancing and other COVID-19 regulations. Many of the residents complained that they have many young children and packing all of their belongings, along with their children, to go into a shelter simply is not wise.
Officials of the CDC were also at the scene trying to persuade residents to go to the shelter but they would not budge. The Director-General of the CDC, Kester Craig, told Kaieteur News that currently there are only five persons at the shelter; three males and two females.
Kaieteur News understands that the residents dug a pathway to clear off a blockage and release the water that GuySuCo dispersed to “flood them out”. The squatters were heard pleading with the authorities to release the water because an overbearing “stink” odour was coming from the water, affecting their daily lives.
An excavator was brought to the scene to put back mud in the area that was cleared, reinforcing the blockage and allowing GuySuCo to continue flooding the lands. Police ranks at the scene said that the squatters attempted to intercept the excavator which led to the standoff.
The government has been trying to get the squatters off of the land since September, lamenting that it belongs to GuySuCo/NICIL and is being used to cultivate new cane species since they plan to reopen the Enmore/ La Bonne Intention Estate. They have claimed that the squatters’ occupation of the lands caused them to lose roughly 17 years of research work worth $2 billion since they burnt the fields to clear land and erect their structures.
Despite their efforts, the squatters have shown strong resistance, maintaining that the eagerness to move them is inhumane, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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