Please reconsider decision to repossess house lots
Guyana Chronicle
October 8, 2003
WE the residents of Four Miles Housing Scheme, Bartica, were informed that house lots previously allocated to us would be repossessed by the Ministry of Housing if same were not paid for by September 30, 2003.
Sir, we feel that we were not treated fairly and were denied our right as consumers. We also feel that our democratic rights were violated as citizens of this democratic country. As such we are asking that you reconsider your decision to repossess these lands and give us adequate time to pay for same, providing the necessary facilities.
We feel this way because we never refused to pay for our house lots; we were just unable to do so due to the following reasons:
1. Desire to see our house lots - at the time we were asked to pay for these house lots, we had never seen same and was unaware of the fact that many of these lands were swamps and gullies, so we requested to see our house lots and was denied the right to do so. To date we have not fully paid due to this reason, since we wanted to be assure that if we were allocates such lands, a system was in place for us to receive another house lot, but have never seen or heard from your ministry. There were people who visited the Ministry of Housing, Georgetown but due to the push around, returned to Bartica, mission unaccomplished.
2. House-lots in swamp - we started paying for our house-lots but after we were shown our house lots we saw creeks, swamps, ravines, etc. Again upon inquiry there was no fixed system in place for us to be given another plot of land and we decided to withhold payment.
3. House-lots in gully - again after making payments and was shown our house-lot, we saw a plot of land impossible to build on.
4. No infrastructure (road, drain) - here again after making payments, we were unable to have access to our house-lots because there is no road, or track only forest, not bush but what looks like jungle. The land is soft and very sloppy and there is no drainage.
5. Lack of communication - your Ministry had stopped taking payments after the fire and we were not informed that you had resume collection. Also at the Regional Office we were told on several occasions that they were not collecting payments.
6. High cost of living - many of us are single parents, some unemployed and therefore could not afford to pay for the house-lots in the time frame agreed to, more so many of us are public servants and can hardly exist on our salaries. After paying bills and buying groceries, we hardly have $1,000 left to buy greens, but we would love to own a plot of land, to provide a proper shelter for our families, would you deny us this right, bearing in mind our years of service to this country.
Honourable Minister, we think that you would agree with us when we say that situations beyond our control hindered us from paying for these lands. We were also treated unfairly.
With this in mind, we ask that you reconsider your decision to take back our house-lots, be kind enough to ensure that the necessary facilities be put in place so that we can have a smooth process of payment and be able to have access and build on our lands as soon as possible. Also we ask that those of us whose house-lots are in swamps and gullies be given good lands.
We also wish to bring another situation to your attention. Some persons were given good lands, they saw the land and start paying for those lands and suddenly received a letter from your Ministry stating that they were given another plot of land. The other plot of land is either a swamp or a galley. We are dissatisfied and are asking that you also investigate same.
We also extend an invitation for you to come and get a first hand look at the situation here at Four Miles before making a decision.
RESIDENTS OF FOUR-MILES HOUSING SCHEME BARTICA
(Names supplied)