Pay our rents, NIDCO

A group of residents staged a protest at Petit Morne estate near Ste Madeleine, last week, to highlight the stopping of payment by the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO) of their rent. Approximately 500 residents are the remaining group who have not been fully compensated or relocated as a result of the highway construction. They were supposed to be relocated to plots of land in Petit Morne but due to the delay in providing infrastructure such as water and electricity, the residents were forced to rent apartments when the previous People’s Partnership ordered them to leave their homes that were on the fringes along the highway route .

The residents are from Oropouche, Debe, Penal and Rousillac .

The highway runs through those communities and work has stopped at the Grants Road, Rousillac intersection. Several residents who once resided along the route have been compensated financially or have been given plots of land equipped with water, electricity and telephone .

Last week, president of the Debe- to-Point Fortin Highway Action Committee, Edward Moodie, led about 50 residents in a placard demonstration at the entrance of the Petit Morne settlement. He said while several residents who once lived on the highway route were either relocated or compensated, there were approximately 500 affected residents who were told to relocate .

Moodie said those residents were informed by NIDCO to rent apartments while plots were sourced for them. And, he added, NIDCO has been paying their respective rents but recently they were informed by letter that NIDCO could no longer meet those obligations. Moodie said the plots which were allocated in Petit Morne for those 500 residents, are without basic infrastructure such as water and residents .

The residents, among them women, gathered with their placards and shouted slogans calling on NIDCO to pay their rent .

Moodie said, “We are concerned that NIDCO has stopped paying the rents for these residents who are now forking out money out of their pockets. NIDCO have told them that they will repay them after their plots are prepared. But these are poor residents who cannot foot the $5,000 rent.” Moodie said the demonstration would continue this week. NIDCO officials could not be reached for comment .