Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Lelon Saul, this morning informed media operatives that the process initiated since last year to remove persons squatting on private property at Broad and Lombard streets will have to be put on hold due to, among other things, resistance from the residents.
The residents were supposed to be relocated to Barnwell North on the East Bank of Demerara but according to Saul, another reason why the move was postponed is because, the soil content at this location is not suitable for the relocation.
Saul said that the CH&PA is looking at Cummings Lodge as a possible relocation site and the relocation process should commence by October.
It is unclear at this juncture how that outlined period will affect the owners of the lot on Broad Street who had filed a lawsuit against the occupants and won, forcing them to vacate the premises.
In September of 2017, the CH&PA had met with the squatters as part of the effort to successfully relocate and integrate them into the now defunct Barnwell North location.
The CH&PA had partnered with Food for the Poor to assist the families by providing house lots and constructing 72 homes for the multi-million-dollar project.
