Gov’t Will Not Permit Informal Land Occupancy – Minister Guy

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Dr. Morais Guy says that Government will not tolerate informal occupancy of lands across the island.

He said that the Government believes in orderly development.

“There is a feeling that Government encourages people to sit on lands that are unoccupied and …will come at the end of the day to regularize the informal occupation. I want to put it on record now that this is not what we are about,” Dr. Guy declared.

“We cannot afford as a country to go down that road. We need orderly development and what we are going to ensure as a Government is that such orderly development takes place,” he stressed, noting that persons should instead “seek to become rightful and true owners of property in this country”.

Dr. Guy was speaking at a ceremony held in Falmouth, Trelawny on February 5, where keys to new housing units in Hague Settlement were handed over to 21 residents. The two-room board houses were built in collaboration with Food for the Poor.

The residents of Hague were relocated from lands known as Dump, to facilitate the development of the Falmouth cruise ship pier. Approximately 32 units are being built in the area with supporting infrastructure such as roads, electricity, water and sewage.

Dr. Guy, in congratulating the beneficiaries, urged them to take care for the property and all the facilities.

“I encourage you also to integrate yourselves into the community, ensuring that this becomes a model community and that any stigma that was associated with your relocation from Falmouth is no longer there,” he stated.

He said the Government recognizes that “we have to continue to assist our people within the financial capabilities of the country…to own a piece of this rock and to have something to help themselves and their children to advance towards upward mobility.”