| Several Government officials, including Housing Minister Harry Narine Nawbatt, yesterday met with residents of the Lamaha Railway Embankment at the Kingston Community High School to discuss their imminent removal.The meeting, which turned out to be extremely chaotic, closed with residents having to accept that they will be removed to West Coast Demerara, but a Cabinet meeting will determine what level of assistance could be provided by the Government.Nawbatt was at pains to answer some of the queries and concerns that the residents had. Among them was the fact that moving to West Demerara would have a harsh penalty on the everyday expenses of the already poor people.“I got three pickney and all going to town school…I is a poor man…Wha gun happen to me?”Some of the residents were adamant that they were not moving. “Boss man,Wholesale China Jerseys, you can’t move out people; you got to come and bulldoze we.”This prompted Nawbatt to reiterate that living on the embankment was illegal. “Squatting is illegal.”He noted that relocation was dependent on places with utilities (electricity and water) already in place.Among some of the other concerns of the residents was the fact that even the low income house lots were beyond their reach.The residents along the Lamaha Embankment have been under threat of removal for several years now for various reasons, such as the construction of a new road.This time around,jerseys from china, removal is imminent given that GPL will be using the embankment to install and maintain a high power cable.The $200M, 20-megawatt generation plant that will be installed at Kingston power plant will require the removal of all persons squatting along the Railway Embankment between Kingston and Sophia.The removal of the squatters would facilitate the $150M transmission line that is expected to realise an additional 20 megawatts for the national grid.The plant is expected to be completed by May next year, hence the squatters will be forced to remove within the next few months.GPL is expected to commence identifying locations for the poles in September,Cheap Wholesale Jerseys, and actual pile driving will start next March.According to Nawbatt, it is more than likely that residents will have to remove by year-end.Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, in April last,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, told media operatives that the steam turbine that previously generated electricity at Kingston would have to be dismantled to make way for the $200M investment.The 20-megawatt (MW) power station would utilise heavy fuel oil.The previous calls for the removal of the squatters emanated from the Housing and Public Works Ministries, with the most recent being made prior to Cricket World Cup 2007.In previous advisories issued to the squatters on the Railway Embankment along Lamaha Street in the city,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, they were told to relocate since they are occupying a Government reserve — an area that cannot be regularized for housing purposes.In 2006,Cheap Jeseys NFL, the Housing Ministry announced that it will continue to remove unoccupied structures and squatters from private property and Government reserves.“People have been squatting on land that they have no right to occupy, and in a number of cases those persons have been allocated lots in alternative areas and have opted not to take up the lots,” Minister of Housing and Water, Harry Narine Nawbatt, had said.At the time, the minister had pointed out that squatting on Government reserves impedes drainage and irrigation, and that the ministry would have been taking action shortly to remove squatters from several areas. |
