Squatters good for votes, but not grants

This was the position of chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh as he spoke to the media at Evergreen Recreation Grounds in Woodland before distributing 15 hampers in the flood-affected Penal/ Debe region yesterday.

“When the election bell is rung, I see politicians going to all the squatters and asking them to vote so they have rights as citizens and they have the rights to be treated as citizens,” said Ramadharsingh.

“But we have seen the plight of those who do not have proper title for their land and they are in a very precarious and serious position, because while the Government is saying that in two to three weeks they will process these grants, in many places people are being turned away.” They are being turned away, said Ramadharsingh, due to the policy that squatters will not be given access to the grants.

“We want to appeal to the Government to revise the policy for emergency relief because these people have children and they have to get these homes repaired very quickly.

They cannot access the grant, they cannot access the homes and we are calling on the government to review that policy for emergency relief so that the persons applications can be processed. As it stands now they can get no help.” The hampers, sponsored by Unicomer Group and the Maritime Financial Group, consisted of toiletries, rice, flour, and bottles of bleach and were distributed to 15 homes which were “critically affected” by the storm.