A 50-year-old woman and her family are now homeless after their house at Adelphi, East Canje, Berbice was dismantled by persons who claimed that the land belonged to them.
On November 15, persons who had previously contested Farida Latiff’s ownership of the land turned up at the property with police and proceeded to dismantle her house, leaving her, along with her 15-year-old daughter Rosanna and 24-year-old son, who is visually impaired, homeless.
The trio are currently lodging below a relative’s house at Reliance, Canje that is only partially enclosed and lacked security. While they are happy that they have a place to rest their heads at nights, the arrangement is only temporary and they have to leave in a few days.
Regarding the land in question, the woman said she had been occupying it since 1991 and had been paying the rates and taxes since then. She subsequently applied for the land and won ownership through prescriptive rights. She also said that on three occasions the persons contested her ownership at the high court and lost.
Farida said she had not received any prior notice to remove and on the day of the demolition, no document was produced to her. The woman could not say what happened recently but after the demolition she made inquiries at the court and learnt that her transport had been cancelled.
Farida recalled that around 10am on November 15 she received a telephone call from a woman claiming the land and urging her to remove her belongings. The woman told her that she was coming to get her out and to “bar down the house.”
According to Farida she was about to prepare lunch when she got the call and became totally confused. She kept praying that the people were not serious and would not be so heartless to leave her homeless. Around 2.30 pm when she saw the woman and her relatives approaching in the company of a police officer and bailiff she burst into tears.
Her son Ameer also started crying and headed out on the street, not knowing what else to do. Farida said the group started emptying her house and in the process damaged her bed and other household articles. The bailiff then started to dismantle the house wall while the other persons broke other sections of the house. The following morning they tore it down completely. She said that evening they were left stranded on the street with their belongings until the relative rescued them.
A destitute woman with diabetes, Farida had been depending on monthly food hampers from charitable organisations. An organisation had also helped her to build her house.
