Stop the squatters early
Property owners warned to take charge of their land
OWNERS OF unoccupied houses and unused land are being cautioned to periodically monitor their properties to prevent squatters from taking over. Senior director for housing and land administration at the Ministry of Job Creation and Economic Growth, Luthrine Scarlett, has found that squatters sometimes settle on properties for years unbothered.
“Even if you are overseas, or you are elsewhere, have somebody in the vicinity who is close enough to the property to monitor it, because that is part of the draw for potential squatters. They will look around and they would observe and then say, ‘Oh, but nobody seems to be paying attention to that, so let me move on’,”said Scarlett. She said the squatters are often very strategic in how they go about setting up their houses, and so efforts should be made to stop them once they put up the first post. “They normally have this thing (where) they will start with a little wiring. So they will put up posts at the four corners and will put up barbed wire around it. They then watch to see what is going to happen. If nothing happens and nobody says anything, then they move to building,” she explained.
“At the very first sign of anything, like somebody moving on, take steps to move them from that early stage. Don’t wait until they go and then construct a house or several houses,” she urged.
A rapid assessment conducted in 2008 has found that there are about 500,000 squatters living in Jamaica. Scarlett said that while it is unfair for homeowners to lose their properties to these squatters, individuals will need to be more vigilant.
In Jamaica, a squatter can get legal claims to land through adverse possession. This means they can get a valid title for the property after living on it for 12 years, in the case of a privately owned property, and 60 years if the land is owned by the Government.
OLYMPIC SPRINT champion ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce said she is very pleased with the progress that she has been making since her return to active competition this season.
Fraser-Pryce, who won the IAAF World Championships sprint double (100m and 200m) in Moscow in 2013, clocked a season’s best 11.33 seconds to finish second at the Cayman Invitational on Saturday.
The race was Fraser-Pryce’s second of the season since her return to track after giving birth to her first child last year.
“I am feeling really good, and I have to say, I am blessed because to come out here and to run 11.33s, it’s just getting better and better,” Fraser-Pryce said after the race.
“I ran 11.52s a couple of weeks ago in Kingston, and today, I was able to run 11.33s, so I am really excited about the progress,” she said.
“I am just excited about the transition from where I am now and where I want to be for the season, and I think I am working towards getting there,” Fraser-Pryce said.
Saturday’s race was won by American Jenna Prandini in 11.16 seconds, while Jamaica’s Schillonie Calvert-Powell was fifth in 11.52 seconds, and Sherone Simpson, seventh in 11.56.
Fraser-Pryce added that had it not been for her poor start, she could have run much faster in the event. “I don’t think I executed well because I think the start was a little tentative,” she said.
“I will say it is my second 100m of the season and basically my first competitive 100m, so I am very pleased about the effort, and I have to give God thanks and just continue to train hard and continue to press forward,” she said.
“I think that I am not race-sharp and I am still a little way off in terms of where I want to be because of the late start to my training. But I am not complaining because it is an off year. So I am just looking forward to building to 2019 because this is my main focus at this point,” FraserPryce noted.