Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Having fought un-successfully to save the place that they have called home since 1988, residents of Kettering in Trelawny are now calling for Prime Minister Bruce Golding to help them.

The squatters, who spread across approximately 100 acres of land, have been in a dispute with land developer, Keith Russell, for the past two years.

They say they were permitted to occupy the premises by Russell, who was the Member of Parliament at the time.

"We have nowhere to go, and we don't know what is going to happen to us," said Serita Tate, secretary of the Kettering Hall Development Association,

"If squatter settlements in Montego Bay can benefit from proposed developments, and attention can be given to recent hurricane victims, we are also victims of both Hurricane Gilbert and politicians."

An article published in The Gleaner of October 18, 1988, noted that over 400 families from Spicy Hill, Refuge, Crawle, Cary Park, Samuel Prospect and Braco who would be settled on 100 acres of the Duncans Bay property in northern Trelawny.

Failed commitments

Russell reportedly gave this commitment to the people at the request of the then Minister of Construction, Bruce Golding.

The article further stated that Russell informed the citizens that Golding accepted his proposal for the Duncans Bay project to form part of the constituency's Expand-A-Village Programme.

A section of the Duncans Bay property would be reserved for commercial and industrial use, as well as for tourism development; Russell was reported to have said.

The occupants were advised years later that the former Member of Parliament was the owner of the property. Between 1994 and 1995, Ocean Points Limited, of which Mr. Russell is the managing director, served eviction notices on the residents.

Strong resistance

This action was met with strong resistance from the dwellers who refuse relocation sites.

Following numerous demon-strations, charges and countercharges, the residents concluded that the fight was futile, and accepted the offer for relocation.

A relocation site was identified by Dr. Patrick Harris, the Member of Parliament for North Trelawny, but since the September 3 election, the residents have heard nothing.

According to Dr. Harris, the matter is now the responsibility of the Minister of Housing and Water, Dr. Horace Chang.

"It has to move rapidly, based on the timeline we have to work with." said Dr. Harris.

However, he refused to reveal the timeline given by the land developer for the residents to be relocated.

In the meantime, Dr. Chang says the matter is yet to be addressed.