This is according to Chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) Daniel Fraser, who during a brief telephone interview, said CEO of CJIA Ramesh Ghir was expected to call him for confirmation of the meeting but had not done so. As a result, he and other residents had not turned up at the airport for the meeting.
Also, Fraser said, he and people he represents have taken a decision to only meet Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn. “They didn’t finalise the meeting so we didn’t have a meeting today [yesterday] but we are hoping to meet with the minister. Based on the mandate, they are to meet with us and we want to meet with the decision makers and that would be Robeson Benn,” the CDC Chairman posited.
At the time Stabroek News spoke to Fraser, he said the council was in the process of delivering a letter informing him of this.
In May 2012 residents in the community were given a letter by the CJIA Management. It said, “Please be reminded that the land which you are occupying is the sole property of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation [CJIAC] and as such you are illegal occupants. You are hereby required, with immediate effect, to vacate the lands you are currently occupying or utilising belonging to the CJIAC and remove any building or erections thereon. Failure to remove within 30 days of receipt of this notice will leave the corporation no choice but to take steps to remove you from the corporation’s land,” the letter signed by Ghir said.
The governments of Guyana and the People’s Republic of China last week signed an agreement to facilitate the financing of the airport’s expansion. The amount of financing the Chinese Government is providing is in the order of US$130 million and the project is to fully commence in early 2013.
The Government Informa-tion Agency (GINA) reported recently that the Donald Ramotar administration has been holding dialogue with members of the community. That report had stated residents were advised against making additions to their property on the basis that they will have to move. GINA quoted Benn as saying, “We have looked at a number of scenarios and are finalising some issues. It could be amicably done if reasonable approaches are taken.” According to GINA, the minister said that as soon as the plans are finalised, the ministry will meet the residents to get their input and move ahead with the relocation.
In August, Housing Minister Irfaan Ali said during a televised debate on NCN that there was a relocation plan, but residents said that they were unaware of it at that point.
