NHA: Demolition was needed to stop land grab

Some 40 people had paid down on lands at Union Hall and were awaiting the construction of their homes when the lands were taken over by squatters, in what NHA officials stated, was a clear “land grabbing exercise.” The squatters, in doing so, embarked on lands developed with water, electricity and other infrastructure, for the building of homes for legitimate NHA clients, some of whom had paid down as much as $13,000 for their plots. Newsday secured copies of some of the receipts of these downpayments made to NHA by the prospective owners.

Newsday was also showed aerial photos which indicated that in 1998, there were only seven illegal structures on the land. However, within the time that NHA took the downpayment from the prospective owners and the time it took to award the contract for the start of construction, squatters descended on the plots, hurriedly erecting illegal galvanised iron shacks. The NHA will hold a news conference at 10 am today, to explain the circumstances surrounding the demolition of some 60 shacks. According to data provided by the NHA, the development of the Union Hall site began in 1994 under the IADB/GOTT Settlements Programme. The site comprised 770 serviced lots. Lot sizes ranged from 450 metres for residential lots to 5044 metres for residential/commercial lots. The residential lots were sold at $5.00 a sq ft while the residential/commercial lots were sold at $6.00 a sq ft. 199-year leases were issued on completion of payments.

NHA officials stated yesterday that substantial homes had been constructed and are occupied on about 80 percent of the site. But the Authority is currently constructing houses on the vacant lots within the development. (The area on which the demolition exercise was carried out comprised residential and residential/commercial lots). In July 2001, the NHA issued letters to those persons who were occupying these lands, requesting that they come in to NHA’s offices to discuss their occupation of the lands. 

These people responded and their structures were not bulldozed during the demolition exercise which was carried out last Thursday. However, during the time that it took NHA to award the contract, more and more squatters moved in. NHA officials insisted yesterday that most of the 58 structures demolished last Thursday had been built in the last six months.  And of the 58 structures destroyed, 30 were vacant, NHA officials stated. They added that a line had to be drawn at this stage because people were using squatting as a means of laying claim to developed plots which were paid for by others.