DIEGO WOMAN WITH NO PLACE TO GO

In 1993 Awai-Gill acquired the laundry which is situated on Sierra Leone Road directly opposite the end of the existing Diego Martin highway and the start of its extension. She said after her husband’s death and ever since she has been performing the dual roles of running the Laundry Mart her only source of income and providing a home for herself and her three children. "This has been going on for a long time. My husband bought the land in 1977, then in the 80s when the Government began talking of extending the Diego Martin highway we had meetings with them. After my husband died I continued to deal with the matter."

For the last three to four years she said intense negotiations have been going on, Awai-Gill said.

She said that she is not objecting to moving but just wishes to be fairly compensated for her property. She added that she wants to minimize hardships to herself and family while a new place is built, noting that she would not be earning money during the period of the building and relocation.

Awai-Gill also said that numerous meetings were held with different Ministers including Arnold Piggot when the highway extension project came on stream. The present extension will take the highway from Sierra Leone Road to the Wendy Fitzwilliam Blvd in Diamond Vale. The next phase of the project will take the highway to River Estate.

"What I said to them," Awai-Gill said "if you are taking X amount of land from me, you give me back the same size." She added that she was not getting adequate land until former Minister Franklin Khan and Minister Ken Valley became involved and were instrumental in trying to settle the matter. Her laundry property she said now stands on 8,000 sq.ft of land. The land offered her in exchange on St. Lucien Road was approximately the same size. However, the situation took a mysterious turn three weeks ago when Awai-Gill visited Valley and was told by him that ownership of the land that was earmarked for her was being claimed by others.

Newsday learnt that the St. Lucien Road site that had been promised Awai-Gill was sold to the State by its owner back in the 80’s for a particular purpose but had been lying unused since then.

A member of a Diego Martin family who wished to be made anonymous corroborated a sale of the land to the State. But added that the State never used the land for the purpose which it was intended. The family member didn’t want to go on record and refused to say if they had been able to regain the land which they claimed was sold to the State. All the family member would say: "The matter is not in our hands, it is being handled by the Ministry of Works. Talk to them".

For Awai-Gill she said it is stressful because she doesn’t know when she is moving, nor where she is going. "I cannot move and I don’t think anybody out there will move because the alternative for me is like being a vendor on the street for police to be moving me? I can’t put a laundry mart at the side of the road. It’s not to say I’m selling grapes and apples so it’s at a standstill until my situation is settled. Sometimes I feel squatters have more rights than land owners in this country. They just go in with nothing, put down a shack but come out with house and land at the end of bickering with the government," she said.

Awai said yesterday that she is being abused by Diego residents who, not understanding her situation, are telling her to get out of the way so that the highway construction can continue.

Minister Ken Valley who is the parliamentary representative for the area could not be contacted yesterday and no one at the Ministry of Works which is now changing Ministers was prepared to solve the mystery of the piece of land on St. Lucien Road.