Armed police escorted construction workers out of a job site at Guapo yesterday, as angry residents shut down the multi-billion dollar highway, accusing Government of bulldozing private lands and destroying thousands of dollars in produce.
From 7 am, police from the Guapo and Point Fortin stations, led by Cpl Seurattan and including PCs Thompson, Meighoo, Deosaran and Bedassie, were forced into action after reports that workers were under siege at the construction site at 8 Battery Road, Guapo. The site is located in a forested area on the Perseverance Estate, which is owned by Petrotrin.
After shutting down the construction site, protestors pushed down signs erected by main contractor OAS Construtura. They prevented water from being delivered to the highway workers, as they called on the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) to compensate them for their losses. Spokesman Brendon Julien said over the past two weeks OAS had been bulldozing acres of land without their permission.
“They have cut down the forest hills, almost 35 feet excavation without any consultation,” Julien said. He said the initial route was not intended to go through the forests in the Perseverance Estate. “They changed the route without consulting with us,” he said. Showing the EMA’s Certificate of Environmental Clearance, which he obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, Julien said the application was granted on May 12 but the application for the CEC was filed on May 13.
“How can they grant a CEC a day before the application was filed?” Julien asked. Keeno Andrews, who says he owns two acres of land off Battery Road, said over 40 breadfruit trees, yams, chataigne and mangoes were destroyed. “This is Divali and we normally sell in the market. Now that they destroyed the trees, we have nothing to get,” Andrews said. Allister Vesprey had a similar story. He said he spent over $22,000 in fertilizer for his fruit trees and crops.
“They want to give us small money like $5,000 and $8,000. Since I small I working the land and now they come to bulldoze everything,” Vesprey said. Merlisa Sarju said she had a deed for two acres of land. She said since the bulldozing started her home has been filled with dust. She said a river at the back of her house was also clogged and filled with mosquitoes.
“Chikungunya and dengue going around and this is what we have to live with. It’s over 15 years now we planting the land and now they just come here and take it away,” Sarju said. Clifford James, who works at the Chaguanas market, said he was losing out on finances because of the bulldozing. “Normally, around Divali time I sell 25 bags of mangoes. Chataigne going for $7 per pound. Nobody bothering to listen to us or compensate us,” James said.
He called on Nidco to meet with 32 residents and organise their compensation. The residents vowed that no work will be done on the site unless they are compensated.
Nidco responds
Nidco chairman Dr Carsen Charles said yesterday that residents will be compensated for their losses. He said he signed off on 19 cheques on Thursday, which will be distributed soon. Saying there was no need to protest, Charles said teams were also working in the areas to verify claims. He said some discrepancies had arisen in which workers of farmers, farmers and land owners were all claiming compensation for the same piece of land.
“It is not easy to distinguish between people who farm land on their own land, on Petrotrin land and those working on the lands of farmers. This takes a while for us to process, but most of the claims are ready,” Charles said.
He added that every time there is a protest the highway construction slows down because the very people who will benefit from the project were causing delays.