Gov’t serves notice of intent to acquire lands for new bridge
From page 15
A team from the ministry recently met the owners of lands that are proposed to be acquired.
The government has signalled that it wants the bridge in place by 2020. Observers have said it is eying the general elections scheduled for that year.
The first compulsory acquisition of lands order issued by the APNU+AFC government ended in ignominy when it targeted lands belonging to attorney Clarissa Riehl and the Beharry Group. It had been intended for an extension to the Attorney General’s Chambers. The attempt was abandoned after objections were raised.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure met with residents last Tuesday. It subsequently said that the residents’ main concerns were being evicted from their properties without adequate notice and not being adequately compensated.
They also said that while they had no issues with relocation, they would prefer new homes on the East Bank of Demerara or somewhere close by.
The ministry added that its officials emphasised that sufficient notice would be given if the removal of homes becomes necessary. Furthermore, they shared that the Ministry of Legal Affairs would be negotiating directly with the residents on compensation, while the Lands and Surveys Department will be conducting the valuation process to ensure that residents are correctly reimbursed for their homes.
“Today’s meeting was very informative and I appreciate the Ministry coming and making us aware of what’s going on cause all the time we didn’t know anything about what was going on.
“Now that they’ve come we feel a bit more comfortable with the process and whatever has to come in the future, we will try to cooperate with whatever has to be done,” Rantwi Rupnarain, a Houston resident for 60 years, was quoted as saying. According to the ministry, the new bridge, which will connect Houston on the East Bank and Versailles on the West Bank, will be a medium level bridge, with three vehicular lanes and a central movable part in the form of a lift span to allow for the passage of ocean-going vessels.