GuySuCo floods out Success squatters

Squatters living at Success, East Coast Demerara are now under flood water after the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) began flooding the lands on Wednesday.

But the squatters say they will continue to occupy the lands and are calling on the government to come out and speak with them.

When the News Room visited the area on Thursday the squatters breathed a sigh of relief since the pump being used to flood the lands began experiencing some mechanical problems causing the water to recede a little.

“My husband dead 10 years ago, I have six children and I am grandmother too with two grandchildren, we all live here. I come and squat here since January.

“I didn’t just come and squat just like that; I heard about the squatting that was legal with housing,” Shellon Kandai explained to the News Room.

According to Kandai, she heard about the plans to flood the lands about a week ago but she remained as she has nowhere else to go.

“Nobody never come, no one in authority never come and say, ‘well we gonna do something about the situation.’

“You can’t just come and flood where people living with children and do things like this to people,” the woman pleaded.

Dimple Seeram left the area a few days ago to visit the doctor and she explained she returned after she heard about the flood.

“My eyes paining me so I come out by my daughter and she carry me at the doctor. Now I hustling to go in back because, my son call me and said they flooding the place. I don’t have nowhere to live,” the elderly woman said.

Meanwhile, another squatter, Larry Jagnarine, said his house was also flooded and pleaded with the government to intervene.

“This what is going on here is total lawlessness on the government, I have nothing against the government I am an ex-military but look at this. Is this a better life for all Guyanese?

“Is Success the only squatting settlement in this country? So why is only Success people getting this treatment?

“We want Irfaan Ali to come into solve this problem,” Jagnarine stated.

Because of the flood the squatters are now worried that snakes and other dangerous reptiles will come out. A number of squatters had to leave their homes and were camping out alongside the dam but other are refusing to budge and said they have no plans to leave.

Residents of the nearby communities living in the area last week called for the swift removal of the squatters after they claimed the squatters are involved in criminal activity and have been robbing and terrorising them.

The lands the squatters are occupying are owned by GuySuCo who have been trying for some time now to relocate the squatters to begin cultivation of the lands.

The squatters also clashed with the police recently during efforts to relocate them.

This led to the Police using tear gas and pellets to disperse the squatters who were gathered in large numbers.