PM: YOU CAN'T OCCUPY STATE LAND

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MP for La Horquetta/Talparo Foster Cummings says he empathises with his constituents who were evicted from state lands along Ramjattan Trace, Arima on Thursday.  Despite being in Cabinet and not around when angry residents came to his constituency office following the demolition of their structures, MP Cummings says his is willing to meet them.  On Thursday at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the public/private partnership City Heights Housing development in San Fernando, our reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh spoke with MP Cummings, Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis as well as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on the issue.

Transcript

00:00Occupying state land and failing to vacate upon request and on notice, while a sensitive

00:07and complex matter, is an unlawful act which will not be tolerated.

00:12It's the view shared by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as he responded to concerns raised

00:18over the manner in which squatting families were evicted from state lands in Arima on

00:23Thursday.

00:24They were given advice as to not to do it.

00:26They were given advice as to when they should leave, given the opportunity to leave in a

00:31decent and humane way and persons have taken the position not to cooperate.

00:36If that happens, we can't run the country like that.

00:40You can't occupy land and then decide that you're going to fight to hold on to it.

00:47He was responding to TV6 News following the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 90-apartment

00:52City Heights housing development in San Fernando on Thursday.

00:57Also at the event was Lahoketa Talparu MP Foster Cummings who had similar views.

01:02I empathise with all those families who may have found themselves in difficulties, but

01:09as citizens we have to understand that there is a law and we must obey the law so that

01:14I will take the time when it becomes available, when the residents who wish to meet with me

01:21will have the opportunity to meet with the MP who has very regular meetings with constituents,

01:26but understand the point as a country, we have to be law-abiding.

01:31Meanwhile, Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis says communities like the one demolished on

01:36Thursday have been increasing and sometimes, she says, they do more than just occupy.

01:43Some of those people moved there very recently, so it means that they did have somewhere else

01:50where they lived previously and they saw an empty location and they decided to come

01:56there and conduct an illegal act.

01:59So we did have to protect the state's assets.

02:02We have seen an explosion of squatting and even people who have decided that they can

02:10sell the state land, what we call squat lords.

02:14They don't own the land, it's the state's land, but they are selling the land to people.

02:19Which is unfair because the persons cannot get title to land under those circumstances

02:24and they will still be moved off the land.

02:26As to whether or not state agencies will be mobilising to find alternative housing for

02:31those evicted families, the Housing Minister says they will see what can be done.

02:37We have found that a few of those persons have applications in the HDC system and once

02:47they qualify, most of them more than likely will qualify for rentals.

02:52Once they qualify, we will be processing their applications.

02:56We can't say that they will be given priority because it will be unfair to those other persons

03:03who also have applications there.

03:05But we do know that they have applications in and we will see what can be done.

03:11Cindy Raguba, Chika Singh, TV6 News.

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