Land grabbers we’re coming for you!

FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, Colin Gager on Thursday vowed to take legal action against individuals who continue to ignore enforcement notices and illegally develop lands earmarked for public purposes.

Warning that the construction of houses on land reserved for a long-planned sewage treatment plant in the Cave Island housing development is threatening that critical public infrastructure project, Gager told the corporation’s regular monthly meeting that the municipality now recognises that serving notices and stop orders is no longer enough, and persistent offenders must now face the courts.

“My theory is that although we have been serving notices, some way or the other, we must make our presence in these notices be felt in the court of law,” he said.

The mayor singled out a lot in the Cave Island residential settlement in Hague in the parish that had been designated for the construction of a sewage treatment plant but has since been occupied by houses, effectively preventing the project from proceeding.

Developed by the National Housing Development Corporation, the area features more than 260 residential lots.

“We need the sewage treatment plant, and people decide to go and build on it. So now that we are looking at putting in the sewage plant, we can’t move forward because it is occupied,” Gager fumed, disclosing that the corporation is now planning a joint operation with the relevant authorities to reclaim the property.

Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, C Junior Gager speaking during the regular monthly meeting of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation on Thursday. Horace Hines

“We are going to go on site with the necessary agencies — making sure that health is there, the police are there — and a decision must be made to reclaim this lot that was slated,” he said.

The mayor lamented that the Cave Island case is not an isolated incident, arguing that people continue to seize lands, regardless of their intended purpose.

“It is earmarked for development but they will not heed. They capture it! No matter how much notices you serve, they move ahead with the development,” he said.

The mayor also revealed that the corporation is preparing to bring another matter before the courts involving an individual whom he did not name who allegedly ignored notices and stop orders and continued developing land reserved for another purpose in Lorimers.

“We served the notice. There was a container. The person moved the container, started [putting up building blocks]. We served notices, stop orders, and he continued. We are making sure that this is one of the cases that will go before the court immediately — because that land is earmarked for something else in the area and this one gentleman, because of his selfish ways, decided that he will break the law,” Gager raged.

Turning to the long-standing issue of informal settlements in Flamingo, the mayor said the municipal corporation had consistently worked with the police and other agencies to discourage illegal occupation, and has supported landowners in pursuing legal remedies.

“You can’t give the local authority, or any of the agencies, any blame when it comes to this because we have been working with the agencies. We have been working with the police in serving the necessary notices,” he said.

.

He noted that the successful court rulings have paved the way for landowners to establish their property boundaries — a process that could affect houses erected on the lands which are reportedly worth between $60 million and $100 million.

Gager urged Jamaicans to exercise greater caution.

“How can you, as a person who wants a piece of land, buy sea-view land for $600,000? You can see the view of the sea, so you know it is worth much more. The person selling you the land doesn’t have documents to give you and is telling people that Government will provide documents for them,” he said.

He also addressed reports that some informal settlers in Flamingo have begun organising to lobby for infrastructure on lands they do not legally own.

“They have the audacity to call a meeting to say, ‘Let us now get together to plan how we will be getting light, water and road into persons’ land,’ ” said the mayor.

Gager argued that the continued occupation of lands without legal ownership sets a dangerous precedent and undermines orderly development across the parish, adding that illegal occupation of lands also contributes to flooding and other planning challenges.