Under the watchful eyes of police, protesters from Guapo marched through two construction zones in Golconda and Debe and interrupted work on the Debe and Golconda interchanges of the $7.4 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension. They started their protests at the Debe site before moving to Golconda and then to Mon Desir.
Some of the protesters chased excavators and ordered the operators off the site. Protester Natasha Fletcher jumped inside a dump truck transporting backfill and switched off its engine. Looking startled, the driver asked Fletcher what was going on, but she responded: “Doh ask no question. Just clear out of here.”
Another protester, Clevon Vespry, climbed inside the bucket of a backhoe and sat down, while their leader Brennan Daniel told OAS Construtora country superintendent Rodrigo Ventura to send all the workers home. “We not taking this. We want we money... else there will be no highway,” Daniel shouted. The OAS workers seemed only too happy to leave the job site with a few commenting that they needed a break.
Ventura pleaded with Daniel to allow the work to go on but he said they would disrupt every job site until they were adequately paid for loss of crops and lands. “We also want the Government to give us lands with titles of ownership like they did for the people in Debe, so we too can go to the bank and get loans,” Daniel said.
He admitted that many of the residents had no deeds to the land as it was owned by Petrotrin but added that the land had been cultivated by Guapo residents for over ten generations. The protesters carried sheets of paper listing all the crops that they say were destroyed when OAS bulldozed the lands. Curtis Matthews, who wore a thick gold chain with his initials engraved on it, said he lost $30,000 in crops.
“I have three acres of land at Cochrane planted with 37 breadfruit trees, 100 lime trees, 150 ochro trees and 200 sorrel trees, which they mashed down. I want money for that,” Matthews said. Asked if he owned the land, he said he had been squatting on it for the past ten years. Melissa Sarju, who said she had a deed, also called for relocation. Another resident with teardrop tattoos on his face, who did not give his name, said Nidco was paying too little for compensation.
“They owe us $40,000 and $50,000 but all they paying is $9,000 and $12,000. We don’t want that,” he shouted. The OAS workers returned to work after midday when the protesters left.
Nidco responds
President of Nidco Dr Carson Charles said yesterday there was an ongoing problem with the claims to the land, some of which could not be substantiated. “This seems to be an organised protest. They are going to different sites and are shutting down work. We are trying to complete the tasks ahead whilst dealing with these claims but first every claim has to be properly assessed,” Charles said.
Asked if the project would suffer cost overruns because of the work stoppages, Charles said: “We are managing the problem so right now we do not have any cost overruns.” He said the timing of the protests was “curious,” but added he did not want to speculate whether they were politically motivated. Charles and his staff were expected to distribute cheques to affected residents at the Guapo Community Centre at 5 pm yesterday.
Police: Our hands tied
Senior police said yesterday they could not interfere with the protesters as they were peaceful. Asked why they were being allowed to walk through a construction zone without protective gear, one officer said: “All we are here to do is keep the peace. Once they not breaking the law, we cannot do anything.” First Response Service Ltd’s Markaso Ullina, who is in charge of security operations at OAS, also said it was dangerous for the residents to walk through a construction zone without proper safety gear.
“We have tried to advise them to leave but they do not want to leave. We were expecting assistance from the police and we are still waiting. We are trying to be reasonable with them,” Ullina added.