While hundreds of squatters struggle to stay afloat amidst the deliberate flooding of Success on the East Coast of Demerara by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), President Irfaan Ali is urging that they allow his government to develop housing the “right way”.
“My brothers and sisters at Success… we want you to own your homes too; that is why we sent the housing team so many times to see you. We want to help you. We are going to move as fast as possible in this programme but I am appealing to Guyanese let us do it the right way,” he said during his feature address at the opening of the “Dream Realised” Land Title Distribution Ceremony hosted yesterday by the Ministry of Housing and Water at the National Stadium at Providence.
According to Ali, Guyana has to become accustomed to doing things the right way otherwise there will continue to be “communities which are not sustainable “.
He stressed that investing in a squatter settlement will bring no returns and once again urged that citizens spend their money in structured housing schemes.
“If you invest $5 million in a squatter settlement there is no value because you cannot use it as collateral. If you invest it in a structured scheme there is value. You can capitalize that sometimes for more than $5 million, more than $7 million or $8 million,” Ali advised.
GuySuCo has been at loggerheads for weeks with the squatters who refuse to move from land the company says is to be used for cane cultivation.
Confrontations between police and the residents have seen several persons including women and children injured when pellets were fired on two occasions.
Since Wednesday the company started the process of flooding the land using a large pump.
When this newspaper visited the site on Thursday, the water had inundated the homes which were on low-lying plots and starting to affect those which were slightly above the ground. Houses on higher ground were not touched by the water but materials purchased were washed away or soaked. There was some relief for the squatters on Thursday when the pump being used to flood the area experienced mechanical difficulties and the water which they feared would continue to rise started receding.
Residents explained that prior to releasing the water into the area, GuySuCo had used an excavator to dig a series of drains to allow the flood to completely cover the occupied area.
Questions have been raised as to why the former APNU+AFC government made no arrangements to regularise these squatters and to offer them house lots prior to August 2nd. Prior to acceding office on August 2nd, the PPP/C had made clear that it would be reopening shuttered estates. The lands at Success are to be used for cane farming.
