60 squatters facing eviction

Sixteen families including the Chang Wais were asked to move a month ago because the LSA said it would be improving the roads, water, sewerage, and putting proper street lights.

Curtis Oliver, spokesperson for the community said the squatters were told to sign LSA documents under duress and intimidation.

"In the document you are told you will forfeit your house and the lot if you do not move within this certain period of time," he said.

The squatters were given 21 days to leave the area, which are up today. They were also provided with lots closer to the Jacob’s Hill Road.

He said the LSA had met with the squatters who informed them they would be providing a recreation facility, a primary school and a community centre.

"We need to come together in unity, and while other people are getting compensated we are getting none! We need to be united!" he advised the residents.

The Committee for Social Transformation representative, Bob Persad told Newsday that legal adviser Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj asked him to attend the meeting and to assist the residents.

Maharaj was unable to attend the meeting because he was out of the country.

"What do we have to show in this country? This was forest when these squatters came here 15 years ago, and nobody in Trinidad and Tobago needs to be squatting, the Government makes enough money!" he said.

He said that Trinidad and Tobago had unlimited natural resources and after the squatters worked years to build their houses they had to be demolished. "We are not saying that the Government has to give you a house, just provide a piece of land," he stated.

He added that Government ministers were collecting a salary of $15,000 and they did nothing to assist the citizens of the country. "There is no support from the Government and the Opposition," he said. "It is good to service mankind, it is a service to God."

One resident told Newsday he had spent too much money building his house and he was prepared to die for it.