FALMOUTH, Trelawny – Dump, the five-acre property in historic Falmouth which has been home to some 100 families since 1988, is to make way for a proposed US$250-million cruise terminal, but residents are not taking the more than 10-year-old talk of relocation seriously.

According to 54-year-old Allister ‘Preacher’ Hines, the residents, who all live in board structures due to the lack of security of tenure and have acquired all their basic amenities including light and water from a standpipe, would like to construct more permanent structures on the property.

However, he said the constant threat of removal has stymied their intentions.

“Because them seh wi haffi move wi can’t do anything,” Hines told the Observer during a tour of the community.

According to Hines, the only problem the people face in the area was an unsightly drain which runs through the community, which they claimed was sometimes neglected by the municipal authorities. That aside, he said, people have no major problems with the area and would like to remain there.

Councillor Garth Wilkinson says that the local authority would be working closely with any relocation to ensure that the people were removed to a suitable location with the basic and necessary infrastructure in place.

“If relocation is to take place there will be no situation where residents share bathroom as exists.,” he said.

Issues of relocation, lack of security of tenure and lack of proper amenities were among the chief concerns of residents of Dump and other representatives of informal settlements in Trelawny, St James and St Ann, when they met recently at the William Knibb Baptist Community Centre in the town, in celebration of World Habitat Day.

The forum, which was organised by Community Organisations for Management and Sustainable Development (COMAND) – an umbrella organisation that represents informal settlements across the island – sought to examine the state of the communities and to share best practices that have worked for the different areas.

At the forum, residents of Coopers Pen said they faced a similar situation of uncertainty as after living in the area, situated next to Starfish Resort in the parish, a claim of ownership has been made on the land.

According to Joan Smith, 40, who spoke on behalf of the community, more than 85 people were now in danger of losing their homes as they are now in court with the alleged owner, who is seeking to sell the land at $3 million per acre. “We need help, we need lots of help,” she said.

A similar situation is faced by residents of the Duncans Bay property, said to belong to former parliamentarian Keith Russell, who has since received a court order to repossess the land and last gave notice effective July 31 for residents to move.

According to Serretta Taite, secretary of the Kettering Hall Company Development Company, which represents the community, the people have been at a standstill as they were yet to hear anything concrete about relocation and know that anytime they could be evicted.

“Right now we don’t know where we stand,” said Taite. “We are not hearing anything.”

COMAND chairman, O Dave Allen, said it was absolutely necessary for residents of these several informal communities in the parish to be treated equitably as the parish prepared for massive tourism inflows which was likely push the price of land up and prevent average working class people from gaining security of tenure.

He said it was also necessary to put in place housing as investments flowed into the parish to prevent a recurrence of what happened in neighbouring tourist mecca of Montego Bay, which has seen the establishment of some 19 informal settlements.