McKenzie slams Golding, Moore for sending ‘signal of lawlessness’
Senior Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has described as “disgraceful” and “dangerous” the stand taken by Opposition Leader Mark Golding and Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore in defence of squatters who have continued to occupy lands in Westmoreland in defiance of a court order.
“They have sent a signal of lawlessness across the country to anyone who owns lands — whether big or small — that their property is not safe, that the fruit of their hard work can just be taken away. It sends a signal to a potential investor that he or she should consider a country other than Jamaica. It sends a signal to a potential returning resident that he or she should consider staying overseas, rather than coming back home,” McKenzie, the minister of local government and rural development, stated in a news release on Sunday.
McKenzie’s broadside came after Golding and Moore met last Thursday with people who have, for more than a decade, been living on lands at Little Bay, Brighton, and Salmon Point in Westmoreland owned by American Kathleen Eugster whose husband John was murdered in 2004 while trying to reclaim the property.
In 2011 a local court granted writs of possession to the Eugsters and ordered the eviction of 27 squatters from the lands for which there are said to be plans for an investment valued at US$5 billion.
Last Thursday, Golding told the squatters that they have a right to the property.
“Many of you are property owners in your own rights. You may not have a legal title yet, but you have been living on the property and you have invested in your property far beyond the 12 years prescribed by law,” said Golding, who is also president of the People’s National Party (PNP).
“You can’t leave it to one family where their rights, as they see it, overcome the rights of so many people. That can’t be right. The Government must intervene,” he said. “I will continue to do what I can to try and bring about a solution to your situation. I will be working closely with your attorneys, with our candidates and our councillors.”
Mayor Moore, who represents the Negril Division in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, told the squatters that he would “fight, fight, and fight again” for them.
“As a representative of this area, I could not stand by and see these people come and want to move you as if you are nobody,” he said.
But on Sunday, McKenzie condemned the statements.
“The comments attributed to both the leader of the Opposition and the mayor of Savanna-la-Mar are not only disgraceful but dangerous. They have met directly with the residents and told them that they will stand with them in defiance not only of the law, but of the clear ruling of the courts that they must vacate the lands,” McKenzie said.
He said that given Golding’s attendance and comments at the meeting, he has concluded that the encouragement of lawlessness through violations of property rights are the official policy of the Opposition as well as the PNP.
“No responsible political representative behaves in this way. The conduct of Mr Moore, both as mayor and as councillor of the Negril Division, defies every principle that informs the Local Governance Act, and as minister I totally deplore his comments, which are reprehensible and undermine the very authority of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation in enforcing the provisions of the Building Act throughout the parish,” McKenzie said.
“The remarks of the leader of the Opposition are even more serious. I do not believe that he, as an experienced attorney, is ignorant of the law and the lines of governmental authority, and I view his remarks as totally opportunistic. They also have extremely serious implications for property rights in Jamaica,” McKenzie said.
He said that Golding’s comment that the people have rights to the lands they occupy, because they have been there for over 12 years, is misleading.
“He ought to know that there is no law that supports this. The Limitation of Actions Act states that persons who have had undisturbed possession of land for over 12 years — in other words, possession without notice from the owner of that land to leave — can approach the courts to seek possession of the lands. There is no automatic ownership of land anywhere in Jamaica through squatting,” the minister said.
He also pointed out that Section 12 of the Act states: “No person shall be deemed to have been in possession of any land merely by reason of having made an entry thereon.”
McKenzie said that Golding, as an attorney and leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, should know that his statements represent the legislative branch of Government telling the citizens of the country to defy the rulings of the courts — the Judicial branch of Government.
“Both he and Mr Moore, who is a member of his party, have advised citizens in a direct meeting that it is fine to behave unlawfully,” McKenzie said.
“I therefore want to assure every law-abiding Jamaican that this Government does, and will continue to respect their property rights. As is publicly known, the prime minister recently met with the people of Little Bay, Brighton, and Salmon Point and advised them, among other things, that the ruling of the court must be obeyed. I therefore urge them to respect the law, and not to be swayed by these irresponsible utterances made by the leader of the Opposition and the mayor of Savanna-la-Mar,” added McKenzie.
