THE GLEANER, MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS A11 NOTICE Will Mr. Tajay White whose last known address is located in the community of Maxfield, Kingston or anyone knowing his whereabouts please urgently contact the Child Protection & Family Services Agency; 40 Duke Street, Kingston CSO at 948-1145 or 948-6218. Albert Ferguson/GleanerWriter WESTERN BUREAU: ATTORNEY-AT-LAW REVERENDRonaldThwaites is warning defendant Kathleen Eugster, owner of over 451 acres of lands in Old Hope, Westmoreland, that any adverse action to remove occupants of the controversial property will be in contravention of their rights to their property by adverse possession. Thwaites is representing several occupants of lands, located in Brighton and Little Bay, Westmoreland, that is ownedby the defendant. The residents have, for several decades, captured and lived on the land undisturbed. According to the former government minister, applications for registered titles by adverse possession are in train. “I wish to point out that the persons I represent, and, to the best of my impressions of the other persons who lived on the property, they arenot seeking to steal the land fromanyone,”he said.“Theywant to buy the property.” His comments follow a demonstrationby affected residents, after anevictionnoticeby theowner was served last week for them to surrender possession. The eviction notice ordered persons to immediately vacate the premises they now occupy ‘as squatters’, and that they will be ‘evictedwithout further notice’. However, some residents, who have been living in the area for more than five decades and have nowhere to go, are hoping that an amicable solution can be arrived at in the shortest possible time. “I have been paying tax on the land for about seven years now, so we areherebecauseof the violation, where they want to move people and smash down our houses,” Richard Douglas McCloud, an affected resident, said.” They need to come in and give us the chance to buy the land on which we have been living all these years.” DOWN THE DRAIN But Suzan McKenzie, owner of bed and breakfast operation Judy’s House, isworried that her investment will go down the drain, after she discovered three years ago that the person shepurchasedher land from is not the legitimate owner and is nowhere to be found. “Everybody is terrified thatwe are going tohear thenoise, in thenight, of tractors coming tobreakdownour places,” she said. “The land is where they keep their goats, the chicken; it’s where they go fishing from; it’s where their childrenhavegrownup; it’s an impossible situation. “I just have to wait and see what the Government will do,” said McKenzie. Thwaites also told The Gleaner that a letter seeking a workable solution between the parties has been dispatched to the Ministry of EconomicGrowthand JobCreation. “I havewritten toMinister (Robert) Montague andurgedhimtousehis good office to step in and mediate a solution between those who live on the property, those who wish to buy, and theholdersof the registered title.” Thwaites saidhewill bewriting to National SecurityMinister Dr Horace Chang, withaviewtopreventingany physical confrontation, should the owners persist in the current mode, which he described as frightening. “If there is any attempt tobulldoze the place and to run off the people, I would be fearful in this time of escalated crime and distress in the community,” Thwaites warned. “I would be very fearful of what will take place, as more lives could be lost.” Thwaites cautions against plans to evict Little Bay land occupants An image of one of several properties in Little Bay, Westmoreland, where the owner received an eviction notice. Business owner Suzan McKenzie, one of several persons served with a notice to vacate the properties they are occupying in Little Bay and Brighton in Westmoreland. Business owner Suzan McKenzie shows the eviction notice that was erected on her property last week. Egloyn Bernard, one of the residents served with an eviction notice in Little Bay, Westmoreland. PHOTOS BY HERBERT MCKENIS Richard Douglas McCloud, one of the persons who were served notice to vacate lands occupied in the Little Bay and Brighton communities in Westmoreland in February.
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