It’s a classic land dispute.

For more than 30 years individuals have occupied land in Kettering, near Duncans in Trelawny, despite being given multiple eviction notices and relocation offers.

Now the land is designated a hazard zone by Trelawny Municipal Corporation due to inadequate infrastructure and safety risks, according to Keith Russell — the titleholder for the land and owner of Duncans Bay Development Limited — who is looking to have the evictions actioned and the structures demolished.

However, residents are again resisting and have filed an injunction to save their homes. They are claiming adverse possession of the land before Russell purchased it in 1993.

Tameika Sinclair, president of Kettering Hall Development Benevolent Society, told the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday that she and her family have resided on the land for more than 30 years, after they were displaced by the devastating Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

Tameika Sinclair, president of Kettering Hall Development Benevolent Society, speaking to the Jamaica Observer on a visit to Kettering last Wednesday. Photo: Karl Mclarty

She claimed that Russell, who was the Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern from 1980 to 1989, made representation to the then Ministry of Construction for the land to form part of the Government’s Expand A Village programme that sought to provide housing and land titles to residents in Trelawny.

Sinclair claimed that residents were permitted to occupy the land and, over the years, have tried to regularise themselves but have hit several roadblocks. She said years later they were notified that Russell acquired a title for the property, and the residents intensified their efforts to retain the land, but have been unsuccessful.

“We have tried our best to see how best we can structure ourselves and try to regularise the area and appeal to the respective authorities — the Government and so forth — to come in and see how best we can get the place for ourselves. We have met with several different persons, different stakeholders, but as I said, nothing much has happened since.

“Surprisingly, we were served eviction [notices], well, demolition notices on the 20th of June…” said Sinclair.

Containers erected by residents line what appears to be the entrance to land owned by Keith Russell in Kettering, Trelawny. (Karl Mclarty)

She said the residents were alarmed by the notice and have since retained an attorney, which has resulted in two court appearances and the citizens’ association filing an injunction to halt the demolition. The matter is scheduled to be heard in court on November 26, she said.

“There is an interim order, nothing permanent; it is an interim order because the case has not been formally tried per se, but there’s an interim order where the judge has asked…that, in the interim, no demolition and no eviction can happen. For us, the people over here, because persons are still building their homes and adding to their homes as they go along, they have asked that no more additions and no more building [takes place] until the matter is heard in court, so that’s basically where we are,” she told the Observer, adding that people are “very frightened”.

“As I said, we have a lot of families over here and the upheaval of this man…I mean, he has basically taken the rest of the land around us for whatever means, and that is totally fine. I think enough land is here for all of us to share, but our appeal is just for them to just leave us alone so we can live and raise our families here. It’s a lot of families, about over 350 persons total are living over here,” said Sinclair.

She acknowledged that residents had previously received eviction notices and warnings from the police. However, she said interactions with law enforcement were generally civil, with residents indicating that efforts were being made to regularise the settlement.

According to the president, residents had even attempted to pay property taxes in the past as part of their effort to acquire the land, but were not successful.

“We want to be able to regularise the area. We want to be able to get our respective titles eventually, pay our property tax, all of those things. We want to live as upstanding citizens,” she told the Observer.

Despite residents’ claims that they were given the go-ahead to occupy the land, Russell has dismissed their account, stating that their recollection of the events is inaccurate.

RUSSELL…at no time did I ever put anybody on land without proper channels (Photo: Philp Lemonte)

He emphasised to the Observer that at no point during his tenure as Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern did he grant permission for anyone to settle on the land.

Russell stated that, at the time, he made representation for the land to be purchased by the Government and titles and housing handed to residents under the Expand A Village programme, but the suggestion was never taken up by the then Government and no approval was granted for anyone to occupy the land.

“What we had done, we had approached Long Pond Estates — which, at the time, owned about 19,000 acres of land, about over 10,000 acres were non-arable land — and we had extracted from them an undertaking to give out 30 acres of land around many of the districts, including that property, once it was non-arable land.

“They had signed over 700 acres to us, so I already had 700 acres to relocate persons from. I was looking for additional acres to cut down on the geographic mobility of persons moving from one to the other, so Duncans was not an urgency, but after the hurricane [Gilbert], I did ask and make representation that the Government buy some land over there.

“As a matter of fact, before that, I had made representation that the Government buy the whole property for resort purposes — that didn’t work and at that time. I considered buying the 100 acres, but at no time did I ever put anybody on land without proper channels,” Russell insisted.

The former Member of Parliament said the property was purchased in 1993 for private development. He explained that between 1994 and 1995, Trelawny Parish Council issued eviction notices to approximately 20 families occupying the land. However, the notices were ignored and, over time, the number of dwellings gradually increased.

Russell said that the company had offered residents the opportunity to purchase lots in one of its developments at a significantly reduced cost, but no one took up the offer.

In 2007, another round of eviction notices was issued by the parish council. Russell said residents then appealed to the Government for help, and the Government reportedly asked the company to delay demolitions while alternative arrangements were being made, but those relocation plans never materialised. He told the Observer that occupants signed a letter admitting they were squatters and requested more time to relocate.

Russell said additional notices were later served, prompting some residents to vacate the land, while others remained. He explained that, although several notices had been issued over the years, the most recent one mandating the eviction of all remaining occupants and the demolition of structures was served to Duncans Bay Development by the municipal corporation. He added that he is now obligated to act, because the area has been officially declared “hazardous and dangerous” by the municipal corporation.

Operations manager for Duncans Bay Development Company Dwayne Swaby said the area was declared hazardous because it had no legal water or electricity connections and exposed wires that threatened the safety of occupants. He further noted that there is no sewerage system in place, and there have been multiple reports of criminal activities in the area as well as the illegal sale of land to reportedly build numbers.

“They have attacked our own staff and surveyors quite hostilely, and they constantly steal electricity. One of our operators almost got electrocuted because they drove over some of the wires on the ground without our excavators knowing that. They’ve blocked our roads and built homes inside our internal development roads,” Swaby told the Observer.

A wooden structure in Kettering, near Duncans, Trelawny, is occupied by individuals said to be squatting on land owned by former Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern and owner of Duncans Bay Development Company Limited Keith Russell. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

He stated that at no point has the company allowed anyone to occupy the area without notifying them that they are trespassing. He further noted that while occupants claim they were permitted to live in the area under the Expand A Village programme, none of the other areas that benefited from the programme are in a similar state.

“All of those villages, so to speak, that were put in, have proper infrastructure. Everybody was able to get their titles and they have proper roadways, water, sewage disposal — all of that is in there. There is no way, shape, or form that as a Member of Parliament, given all the things that he has done before and all the other Expand A Village programmes, that he [Russell] would just say, ‘Hey, go and take a piece of land,’ without any form of structure,” said Swaby.

He stated that the company intends to hold off on the demolition of the homes until the court hearing in November, but maintained that they will move to eventually have the occupants evicted and the structures demolished.

“It has never been the desire of Duncans Bay, its agents, or our employees to dispose of persons’ [belongings] and leave them on the street; at no point whatsoever. Every effort has been done, and expenses have been paid on our behalf to get persons to get off the land. They refuse to, and they keep on making it seem as if they are victims because they do not want to give up what they know is not rightfully theirs,” he added.

On a visit to the area last Wednesday the Observer met with residents who were adamant that they would fight for the land they believe belongs to them.

One occupant, who requested anonymity, said he has lived in the area for more than 25 years. He maintained that he was told he could occupy the space by other occupants.

“I was told that the place is nice, it can live, so I came to live,” he said.

He insisted he will not allow his home to be destroyed.

“Me nuh have nuh weh else to go, and me nah go stand up and make them lick down my place,” said the resident.

A resident of Kettering, who lives without electricity, has lined their property with solar-powered lamps to provide illumination at night. Karl Mclarty

Marcus Fleming, another occupant, said he moved to the area a year ago and is not sure where he would go if evicted. He said the situation is unfair.

“If they never tell the people that they could live here they wouldn’t come up here in the first place. People wouldn’t come up here and build a community. When a community is here now and a lot of people start live, even now people are coming up here, and it’s them time here they see the use for the land and want to use it,” said Fleming.

He said if there are no new plans to relocate the occupants, they should “just give us the land because we done deh here already”.