STAND FIRM
Golding, Moore encourage Little Bay residents not to give up fight for disputed lands
Published:Saturday | April 23, 2022 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU
Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore has told squatters of Little Bay, Brighton and Salmon Point in Westmoreland that they should stand firm in the fight for the lands they have been living on for many decades.
“We will fight, fight, and fight again for the people of these communities,” declared Moore during a meeting with residents at the Brighton Community Centre in Westmoreland on Thursday.
According to Moore, who is also the councillor for the Negril division of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, which covers sections of the communities where there is an ongoing land dispute, he will not sit idle and allow anyone to displace his constituents.
“As a representative of this area, I could not stand by and see these people come and want to move you as if you are nobody,” he said to thunderous applause.
The battle for the property has been raging for decades and saw one of the proprietors – John Eugster – being murdered in 2004 after trying to reclaim the lands.
The tussle continued with Eugster’s widow, Kathleen, a United States citizen, for control of sections of the 867-acre property.
Notwithstanding a 2011 court decision granting writs of possession and the eviction of at least 27 settlers, Eugster has been unable to regain possession, which is reportedly earmarked for a US$5-billion investment.
Speaking at the same meeting, Opposition leader Mark Golding told residents that under the law, they have a right to the property that they now occupy.
He said the People’s National Party respects the laws of the country and the rights of property owners.
“Many of you are property owners in your own rights. You may not have a legal title yet, but you have been living on the property and you have invested in your property far beyond the 12 years prescribed by law,” Golding noted.
The opposition leader said these situations are not things that can be ignored by the Government, or cause the people to feel abandoned in their struggles.
“At the end of the day, the Government cannot abandon you,” he insisted. “You can’t leave it to one family where their rights, as they see it, overcome the rights of so many people. That can’t be right. The Government must intervene!” said Golding, while urging the residents to stand together.
He promised that he will continue to lobby the Government on their behalf to arrive at a decision that will benefit all concerned.
“I will continue to do what I can to try and bring about a solution to your situation. I will be working closely with your attorneys, with our candidates and our councillors,” he assured.
NO BRUTE FORCE
At the same time, he argued that this is not a situation that can be resolved by brute force.
“We have to resolve this by thinking of a good solution that everybody can live with. And that is really what I want the Government to put its mind to because ultimately, the Government has to look out for the people not because they are Labourite or PNP,” he argued.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Andrew Holness cautioned against disorderly possession of properties, pointing out that this method is not the proper channel to land ownership.
He noted that the solution to the issue of land settlement is not going to be the violation of property rights.
“Disorderly settlement must never be countenanced, because all it means in a disorderly settlement is that those who are politically connected, those who know people, and those who know badman and can use force, they are the ones who are going to get the land and the average person will only be able to look on and not be a part of it,” Holness cautioned then.
But Golding reiterated his call for the Government to use the Local Improvements (Community Amenities) Act, which empowers the minister of housing to declare specified land to be absent of orderly development, which thereby freezes all evictions and new tenancies while a development plan for the land is prepared, noting that this was the best course of action to quell tension in the area and allow for a mediated settlement.