they should be given notice and an opportunity to move
| …in apparent land disputeResidents of Lot 1 Brickering Public Road are at their wits end after consistent harassment over the past few days left their houses in various stages of destruction.The lot, which accommodates 14 houses, was the subject of a court battle between the residents, who are tenants and the plaintiff. However, the case was eventually dismissed in the residents’ favour.When this publication visited the site, there was still offloaded sand next to the lot in contention. According to relatives, the lot was supposed to be used for a health centre and the developer is reputed to have told them that the land was bought.The houses also bore the unmistakable signs of attack. Fences had been ripped down and thrown aside. One man’s stairs was completely demolished and a concrete hut had been left in pieces, allegedly by a sledgehammer toting thug.According to the residents, the plaintiff had initially begun concerted efforts to convert the land to his own use.One resident, a carpenter who had been living on the lot for some 20 years, had already raised a family within that time.According to the terrified residents, the men first descended on the lot on Tuesday last with sledgehammers and immediately started breaking down their fences, dumping the ruins next to each house.They returned the next day to continue their onslaught, at which point the residents called the police. A delegation is said to have also visited police headquarters to make a report.The distraught tenants are however upset that the men were not taken into custody. According to them, the police came and removed the men away from the houses, but then left.Residents are contending that even if they had to vacate the land, they should be given notice and an opportunity to move, since they would have already invested into building a life.Some, they said, have lived as long as 45 years on the land.“We tell them, wait. If is they land, let them wait, compensate us for the land.”Another resident summed up the fear of the residents were in.“We would really like people to know that we are worried. They can come back at any time and shoot us.”Meanwhile residents, through their lawyers, are presently filing an injunction stopping any further incursions on their land. |
