Residents of Timehri North yesterday protested the holding of a meeting on relocation between some of them and Transport Minister Robeson Benn, saying attendance was restricted.
About 300 residents protested outside the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri works branch, where Benn met with residents who were served with letters seeking their relocation.
Chairman of the Timehri North Citizens Development Committee (TNCDC) Daniel Fraser told Stabroek News that no one from the committee was allowed in the discussion. He stated that some residents received letters from the CJIA informing them to attend a meeting with Benn yesterday. A meeting was then facilitated by the TNCDC with those residents and they decided that the minister should meet with all residents. As a result, residents with letters and those without turned up at the meeting place but only those with letters were allowed in, while others were barred from entering.
This is what sparked the protest, Fraser said, while adding that the Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali is the most appropriate person to meet with residents on their relocation.
He said that they are calling on Minister Ali to meet with them since their problem falls under his ministry.
Persons living near the airport have been asked to remove from the lands they occupy so as to facilitate the airport expansion project, which includes an extension of the primary runway to a total of 10,800 feet to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft, along with construction of a new terminal building, acquisition of eight boarding bridges, and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment.
Fraser said that after the meeting, they were told that the minister would meet with two or three persons from the crowd outside at the boardroom of the CJIA but they denied the invitation on the grounds that Minister Ali is the one who should be meeting with them. “Ali has the resources, we prefer to have a discussion with him,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Public Re-lations Officer of the TNCDC Sherlanda Daniels said that she was informed by one of the residents who attended the meeting that they were given three options as to where they will be relocated to. She could not say what those options were but noted that according to the residents they were told they will be given $1.5M for their land and $10,000 to assist with transportation fees for relocation.
According to her, the proposed compensation given to residents by the government is not enough for them to relocate and start a new life. She stressed that they don’t want to prevent national development but the process the government is using to relocate them is illegal.
She also noted that a considerable amount of the persons who attended the meeting work at CJIA and as such they sensed fear and intimidation coming from the people who attended. After the meeting was over, Daniels said that all of the persons except one “shied away from us.”
Daniels reiterated that some of the residents have been living in the area for over 50 years and relocating them will disrupt their lives.
