SQUATTERS occupying the Causeway Fishing Village in St Catherine were yesterday served with a seven-day notice to vacate the property where they were relocated to just last Thursday.

The squatters were relocated to the Hunts Bay side of the narrow neck of land that joins Kingston and Portmore because they occupied land identified for construction of a section of Highway 2000. However, the Port Authority said yesterday that the land belongs to them and the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC) was not given permission to relocate the residents to that area.

“The reason for requiring you to cease occupation, vacate and deliver up possession of and remove any temporary structures erected on the said property within seven days is that you are in illegal possession of the property which is owned by the Port Authority,” the notice said.

According to the residents, representatives of the Port

Authority, who were accompanied by the police, visited the site yesterday morning and issued notices of evictions. The representatives also erected two signs advising residents that the area was the property of the Port Authority and that vending and squatting were strictly prohibited.

“The people dem relocate we over here and now dem (the Port Authority) seh dem nuh know nothing about it,” complained Marva Lynch, who has been a fish vendor for over 30 years.

NROCC representative Albert Gillings, in an attempt yesterday to calm the angry residents, told them that his company was aware of the situation and was making every effort to sort out the matter.

“I was told today about the intention to give the fisher folk in this new location notice,” Gillings said. “This is a very unfortunate situation. NROCC is committed to the relocation of the fisher folk on the harbour.”

The area for the squatters, he noted, was identified by NROCC. However, he acknowledged that the Port Authority had expressed concerns about the location. “They are making claims that this is their property,” he said. “We have made contact with our lawyers and we are going to have discussions with Port Authority to clarify the situation.

“Within the seven days our intention is to talk with the Port Authority and discuss whatever concerns, and we hope to resolve it before the week is ended,” added Gillings.

He advised the squatters to continue doing business in the area until they were advised by NROCC, but at the same time expressed concern that some of the squatters were overstepping the boundaries that were designated by the company.

Yesterday, Byron Lewis, senior vice-president of special operations at the Port Authority, told the Observer that he had no knowledge of the arrangements made with NROCC for the relocation of the squatters. “There was no consultation with the Port Authority on that matter… not as far as I know,” he said. “We could not have made any arrangement with NROCC because that area is designated for expansion of the berths.”

Richard Kelly, senior fisheries officer at the Fisheries Division in the agriculture ministry, told the squatters that his department was not aware that they would be asked to vacate the land. “We did not know that the Port Authority was going to come and give you notice to leave in seven days,” he said. “Nobody communicated with us.”

He, too, told the residents to stay put until the matter was rectified. But he warned them that their present location was only for fishing operations, not for living. A permanent fishing operation, he said, was being worked on at Port Henderson, a few metres away.

But despite the assurances given, the squatters were not satisfied.

“Dem tek time a trick we into violence and we nah block nuh road and we nah burn down nuh where,” said one angry resident. “We are going to exercise we constitutional right and we hope nobody nuh vex,” said the man who did not give his name.