Residents antsy over roadwork, relocation
Residents in communities affected by the 13-kilometre-long Ferris to Mackfield road-improvement project say that while they are grateful for the infrastructural improvement for their communities, they are still in the dark as to what will happen to those who will be displaced.
“Only the Chinese we see on the ground. There is a lot of anxiety among residents because those who will have to give up their land don’t know where they must go,” said a resident of Linders Hill, which is located between the communities of Whithorn and Haddo in Westmoreland. “The Chinese come and evaluate my land but don’t tell me how much I am going to be paid, so I am here in the dark.”
According to another resident, Sheena Wright, some residents are of the view that lands will be provided for those who were asked to relocate.
“I think there is some misunderstanding, and it is not helpful when is mostly the Chinese communicating with those that will be affected,” she said. “My home is off the main, but I have relatives who will have to find somewhere to go because the land they are on belongs to the State,”
However, Janelle Rickets, National Works Agency (NWA) Western Regional’s public relations manager, is refuting the claims of non-communication.
“I do not agree that it’s just the Chinese who had spoken to them,” Rickets told WESTERN STAR. “We have had extensive dialogue and continue to have that with the residence.”
“We have had meetings – even as recent as last month [July] – and we had a further meeting that would have been our third meeting with members of the community, and that meeting was directly targeting and speaking to persons that had issues of land acquisition,” she said.
According to Ricketts, residents who were served with section five notices will definitely be affected, but a process of accepting responses and evaluation of the property follows.
WORK IN PROGRESS
“It is work in progress. Even over the last two days, we have meetings between the NWA, property owners, and the National Land Agency, focusing on primary areas in terms of the evaluation of these properties,” Ricketts added. “If a resident was given a three notice and you did not receive a section five notice, it simply means that your property will not be affected.”
For informal settlers located in the path of the road network, she said that there would not be any forced removal.
“Even in terms of shop owners, and so, we have made arrangements, and they have been assisted financially to be able to move,” she continued. “There is no forcible removal. We have worked with the persons there, and persons were cooperating and making their arrangements. So if you have a house and it is to move, you will be assisted. The destination is on them, the squatters. If you are not legally occupying the land, we cannot pay you for the land that you don’t own.”
The Ferris Cross to Mackfield main road in Westmoreland is being rehabilitated under a US$24.9-million (J$3.04-billion) contract.