-after they refused compulsory acquisition offers
-Edghill says amounts being sought `outrageous’
By Marcelle Thomas
With only six of the 21 residents in the pathway of the new Demerara Harbour Bridge accepting government’s compulsory acquisition package for the lands already now owned by the state, notices of eviction and demolition of property were yesterday served to the remaining homeowners.
“We have signed the relevant orders; the one-month period has passed; all the lands are now vested with the state and we are simply moving ahead with the project. No resident will be suffering a loss. It is either you accept the offer with government or the government is compelled to follow the package that the court will determine,” Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill told the Stabroek News in an interview, following the distribution of the eviction notices to the residents earlier yesterday morning.
Residents yesterday bemoaned the situation with some saying they felt they were being bullied for their property. “This is bullyism with terrorism going on with y’all. Every time y’all come is bullyism. Now if allyuh these have a project, nobody stopping development, but the things y’all going on with is not professional and y’all inconsistent with y’all doings…” an elderly resident told Edghill yesterday as he handed her the notice, while declaring that she “would not be signing!”
The “Notice of Eviction from and Demolition of Property,” which was seen by this newspaper reads, “…In the meanwhile, and being pressed for time, the Government proceeded with the compulsory acquisition of your property in accordance with Sections 6 and 7 of the Act. You were informed that in light of the failure to arrive at an agreement on the compensation to be paid, the Government will engage the High Court in accordance with the Act for a resolution of that matter. Therefore, Title to the property now vests in the Government. You are aware that the Government owes certain obligations under the contract for the construction of the said bridge which requires the Government to deliver to the contractor vacant possession of the said property. As a result of the Government’s inability to discharge these obligations, the contractor is unable to access the area for works.”
“In the circumstances, and with sincere regret, the Government wishes to notify you that you are to vacate the said property within 30 days from the date hereof. If you fail to do so, the Government will be forced, as a matter of last resort, to evict you from the said property and demolish the same. Please be assured that the Government will prefer not to resort to this recourse. The Government therefore solicits your urgent cooperation,” it added.
The Public Works Minister said that after two years of engagement, it is clear that residents do not have an issue with moving but their actions are fuelled by the amounts of finances and other offers which they feel are not enough. However, as far as the government is concerned, the amounts being sought are outrageous and way beyond the assessment of private valuators as well as its own and as such is confident the courts will rule in its favour.
“At all material times, everyone in the path of the bridge has agreed with the government to compulsory acquire the land for the path of the bridge. There has never been a dispute. We have persons who have already settled their financial and compensation packages,” Edghill said.
“They have signed those agreements… and those homes are now available to the government of Guyana. There are others who after almost two years of agreement, still believe that the offer of the
government is not adequate. Those will be determined by the impartial arbiter which will be the courts of Guyana, in keeping with the Act,” he added.
Offers
This newspaper understands that the offers consisted of a free plot of residential lot (commercial and industrial where applicable), monetary compensation to the market value of the resident land/building, monetary compensation for crops and accommodation, affording the resident time to rebuild, which means their rents would be paid until their homes were completed.
The government’s compensation proposals range from $21.5 million to $60 million, along with a plot of land in the residential scale, to $67 to $150 million for commercial properties along with similar land offers.
The counter-proposals from the residents ranged from $62 to $105 million for residential, to $87 million to numbers the residents want discussed in meetings.
Not secret
According to Edghill, the efforts towards the acquisition of properties for the construction of the bridge are not secretly done. He reminded that plans for the infrastructure linking regions Three and Four were first announced in September 2020 by the PPP, that the decision had been made to site the bridge along the Nandy Park to La Grange alignment.
In November of 2021, the Stabroek News had asked whether Nandy Park residents were consulted about possible relocation in order to facilitate the new Demerara River Bridge which was expected to land in the community and the minister had said he was not sure.
He did say that consultations were held at varying levels and times, while committing to having every stakeholder consulted. However, he could not provide a specific answer as to whether his Ministry or the Eccles/Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) held a consultation with the residents there.
“I can say as a matter of policy [with] a project this size [that] all necessary stakeholders have been and will be engaged and engagements are taking place,” Edghill had assured.
The new bridge is expected to land in the vicinity of Nandy Park on the eastern side of the Demerara River and at La Grange/Meer-Zorgen on the western side. According to the Ministry’s Chief Transport Planning Officer, Patrick Thompson, only a handful of residents would have to be relocated to facilitate the new bridge.
On May 25, 2022, the contract for the construction of the New Demerara River Bridge was signed between the Ministry of Public Works and the joint venture led by China Railway Construction Corporation (International).
Edghill said that in September of 2022, the joint venture contractor had provided a comprehensive Land Acquisition and Relocation Plan to his ministry, showing all the properties that fall within the right-of-way of the new bridge.
In October 2022, a team from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) and the Ministry of Public Works conducted a scoping exercise in order to compile a detailed report of the particulars of the properties to be acquired in the Peters Hall area of the new bridge. President Irfaan Ali had also visited the site to see where the bridge would fall and those that would be affected.
Also in October 2022, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and a team from his ministry had invited the residents of Peters Hall and Republic Park to a public engagement, to inform them of the process that would unfold leading to the acquisition of their properties for the construction of the new Harbour Bridge.
Edghill informed that in November 2022, the Government Valuation Office was engaged to conduct the appraisal for the list of properties that were to be acquired for the new Harbour Bridge and they subsequently did.
In January of last year, according to the Minister, another engagement was held with residents of Peters Hall and Republic Park by CHPA officers. At the meeting, the valuations were disclosed to the residents. Most of the residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the valuations being offered and opted to have private valuations done.
One month later, Croal returned and held a second public engagement, which he explained was to reinforce the CHPA’s commitment to ensuring that the relocation process will be a smooth and equitable process for all persons affected by the project. CHPA disclosed that in March of last year, it began the negotiation process and allocation of house lots and property to residents commencing land identification exercises in Peters Hall, Covent Gardens, and Farm.
Concern
In late July last year, Stabroek News visited the Peters Hall area and residents complained about the manner in which land acquisition matters were being handled by the government. Back then, the consensus of most residents remained the same; that moving would not be the issue, but the process and valuation of land was of concern.
Diana Forde, who has lived in the Peters Hall area for many years, said that her brother was left to take care of the property. He has been visiting primarily to monitor where they would be located, and so far it has been somewhat of a waste of time.
“Two times he went and… all he see is sand filling the land and they are not saying anything more. Nobody not calling and saying anything. He had a meeting. I don’t see meetings going on anymore and everything is just left at standstill and we are seeing big operations going on. The whole day, and whole night you can’t sleep because of heavy-duty vehicles moving,” Forde complained.
“Put back a house for us. You wanted here; give us back the length of the land and width and give us back a house in a proper area with infrastructure and everything. You come and meet us here with infrastructure, and give us back the same way.”
Forde said they had suspended repairs to the house because of what had been transpiring and now that they are hearing that the bridge will be completed by next year, there is that thought of what the government will be doing with them. Her family has lived in the area for over a 100 years.
Another homeowner, Vashti Fredericks, feels that residents in her community are being treated unfairly.
“Nobody never comes in here; they are treating the residents very unfairly. Nobody ever come and said listen, because of the construction of the bridge going on, what is going to happen, what are the effects of it happening. Nobody ever comes. Night and day you can’t sleep because things are falling off your walls because it’s a lot of heavy-duty vehicles passing in here – 40-foot containers.”
Initially, she said, they were told that they had to move and after that they heard nothing.
Subsequently, some homeowners retained lawyers and approached the Housing Ministry and it was only then that the ministry reached out and sent a team of evaluators. These included Ministry of Housing staff, Lands and Survey staff, and some from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute. Later an offer was made, which she rejected. This was so because her family thought that with the years they have been living there, coupled with the fact that it is prime land, the property would be valued more than what the government was offering them.
The woman said that the current infrastructure was being destroyed and they were being told to move out without any concrete agreement.
In September, Minister Croal, Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, and other persons had gone to the area to meet with residents and state the government’s position.
Edghill said that there had been subsequent meetings after that, which continued until the end of last year.
On February 10, Order 13 of 2024 was published in the Official Gazette for the Acquisition of Land for Public Purposes for the construction of the New Bridge. Then on April 6, Order 28 of 2024 was published in the Official Gazette vesting the described parcels of land to the Government of Guyana in accordance with Section 6.
Yesterday, the Notice of Eviction and Demolition of Property was dispatched and residents said that they will seek legal advice.
