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Govt. to relocate squatters from East Bank Sea dam in six months
Kaieteur News – Government Officials from the Ministry of Housing and Water on Wednesday engaged squatters along the East Bank Demerara Sea Dam about their plan to relocate them within six months.
Minister of Housing and Water, Colin Croal, speaking with Squatters on Wednesday
Those engaged by the Ministry were individuals squatting along the Sea Defence Reserve at Grove, Little and Great Diamond, Farm, Herstelling and Covent Garden on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
A meeting was held with them at the Little Diamond/Herstelling Neighbourhood Democratic Council’s (NDC) compound by the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal. Also present were Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves, Chairman of the Sea and River Defence Board, Gary Beaton, and Community Development Director, Gladwin Charles.
According to a statement sent out by the Ministry, Croal informed the squatters that an area at Great Diamond has already been identified to relocate them. He notified the squatters that his Government wants to complete the relocation process in a six-months-timeline while adding that the “Ministry is working closely with financial institutions to aid families willing to engage”.
“Meanwhile”, stated the Ministry, “Greaves (CEO of CH&PA) committed to working with each person to find the best possible solution for the relocation”.
Residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting
He advised that CH&PA “will be meeting persons according to their specific needs, including making a built unit or a serviced lot available”. In making their case for removing the squatters from the East Bank Sea Dam, Beaton the Chairman of the River and Sea Defence Board explained at the meeting that the “dams” are very critical pieces of infrastructure to Guyana.
Drone shot taken in 2019 of the some of the illegal structures along Grove Sea Dam, EBD.
He reportedly said, “It’s no secret that we are below sea level, they serve two purposes, protect us from seawater and it helps us to get to critical areas quickly”.
According to the Ministry, an investigation carried out by its Community Development Department, revealed a total of 317 illegal structures were found along the Sea Dam. Some 283 of these structures are occupied by families while 34 were empty. Fifteen of these illegal structures were found at Little Diamond, another 49 at Great Diamond while 96 were discovered at Grove. Fourteen were located at Farm and Covent Garden while 86 were found at Herstelling.
Squatting along the East Bank Sea Dam has increased in recent years following an economic crisis in nieghbouring Venezuela. Many Migrants and re-migrants had fled country to seek refuge in Guyana. In 2019 Kaieteur News had found out that Scores of Venezuelan migrants had begun squatting along the Grove Sea Dam on the East Bank of Demerara alongside local squatters.
Scores of Venezuelan refugees forced to settle along E.B.D. river dam
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