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High Court dismisses case by displaced Mocha Squatters
Kaieteur News-The Demerara High Court on Friday dismissed the case filed by six Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara (EBD) squatters, who had sued the government over the demolition of their homes.
The court also ordered them to pay $1 million to the state.
Houses that were demolished by the government at the Mocha Arcadia squatting area, EBD
The squatters, Mark Gorgon, Shenika Simpson, Roxane Allen, Joyann Ellis, Junior Ellis, and Luretia George, who had been occupying lands on Block ‘X’ Plantation Herstelling (now part of the Four-Lane Heroes Highway), argued that they had acquired prescriptive rights to the land and sought $200 million in damages.
The Applicants claimed, inter alia that they hold prescriptive rights over the Mocha Arcadia lands, while also seeking declarations for breaches of their fundamental rights under Articles 141 (Protection from Inhuman Treatment), 142 (2) (Deprivation of Property) and 143 (Protection against Arbitrary Entry) of the Constitution.
However, Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George ruled that the squatters, “have no rights, interests or title to the lands, which are lands owned by the State,” a statement issued by the Attorney General Chambers said.
Justice George’s ruling outlined that the squatters failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove their claims. The court found that they had not demonstrated any prescriptive rights to the land prior to the enactment of the Title to Land (Prescription and Limitation) Amendment Act of 2011. Additionally, no credible or tangible evidence was presented to prove they had acquired legal title to the land or had any right to remain there.
The court also noted that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) had issued multiple notices to the squatters to be relocated and informed them that the land could not be regularized because it was needed for the construction of the Four-Lane Heroes Highway. The CHPA had also made efforts to incentivize the relocation by providing house lots to the squatters. Despite this, the six squatters remained on the land and refused relocation. As a result, in January 2023, the government demolished their homes, while over 150 relocated.
Furthermore, the Chief Justice ruled that the squatters were trespassers and that CHPA had the legal right to remove them stating, “CHPA was entitled to remove them; they therefore remained at their own peril.”
The squatters’ claims of constitutional breaches, including violations of their rights to protection from inhuman treatment, deprivation of property, and protection from arbitrary entry, were also dismissed as unfounded and unsupported by credible evidence.
The court also rejected the squatters’ claim against Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), stating that the company no longer owned the land, as it had been transferred to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) in 2017.
In addition to dismissing the squatters’ claim for damages, the court awarded significant legal costs to the respondents. The squatters are to pay costs to the Attorney General, the CHPA, and (GUYSUCO). They have been ordered to pay $500,000 each to GUYSUCO, and $250,000 each to the Attorney General and CHPA, on or before June 30,2025.
After the ruling, the government stated that they are willing to engage with the applicants and assist them with relocation if they choose to cooperate. The squatters were represented by Attorneys-at-Law Vivian M. Williams and Lyndon Amsterdam, while the government and CHPA were represented by Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall SC MP, Deputy Solicitor General Shoshanna V. Lall, State Counsel Shania S. Persaud, Mohanie Sudama, and Marnice Hestick. GUYSUCO was represented by Attorneys-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran and Rafiq Khan SC.
(High Court dismisses case by displaced Mocha Squatters)
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