| By Suraj NarineWhat residents of Tabatinga in Region Nine are describing as an act of indiscretion,Someone removing a damaged bonnet at the scene on Saturday.has resulted in a family of three seeking refuge under a tree in a neighbour’s backyard while enduring millions of dollars in damage to personal property.According to residents, the incident has so far, been unaddressed by the law enforcement officials in the area. They have refused to intervene in the matter. They ushered the head of the household out of the police station with threats of incarceration.Richard Damdar, 38, of 322 Third Street. Tabatinga, said that he was at the Lethem Complex Ground attending a government outreach last Saturday when he was informed that his home, which he was occupying of the last five years, was being demolished.Damdar said that he returned home to find his house broken into and his belongings on the road. The perpetrators were present on the scene “bulldozing”, dismantling and crushing his belongings and loading them up into a vehicle to be taken to the dump.The man said that he began pleading with the men to give him a few minutes to go in and gather his belongings but he was refused by an individual whom he identified as “Nevo”.The individual then told Damdar that he could not cross an imaginary line and if he wished to uplift his belongings, he should visit the dump.Nevo,NFL Jerseys China, Damdar said,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, was the relative of the man from whom he had acquired the landSome of Damdar’s belongings that were thrown on the road.five years ago.Damdar added that in 2011; he was approached by Nevo’s uncle, “Dingo”, who had five plots in the area with semi-completed structures on them. He was then told to occupy one of the plots and to complete the house and “live his life” – at a price of course.Damdar, an auto body mechanic by profession, was asked to repair Dingo’s vehicle. The cost of the repairs would be deducted from the cost of the materials that were used on the incomplete structure.The man said that he never questioned the legality of the lot since Dingo’s “operation” was endorsed by the former Regional Executive Officer (REO) and members of the Housing Authority who would normally give out lots to residents in the area.However, Dingo kept insisting that Damdar visit the housing authority to apply for the land legally. This caused Damdar to become suspicious. He began making moves. He consulted the housing authority in his area and proceeded to go through the “right channel” to gain legal ownership of the land.He recently received confirmation and was about to start paying for the land when Dingo apparently figured out his intention and with his “links” in Georgetown, he switched Damdar’s name with that of his nephew’s (Nevo) on the application.What resulted next was confusion; the applicant on the form in Region Nine was different from that of the applicant in Georgetown; two applicants applying for the same plot of land.The authority in Tabatinga noticed this and sought to find the reason as to how this could have happened.According to Damdar, an investigation was held; Nevo claimed that he had applied some 10 years ago for the land,Cheap NHL Jerseys, however the land at that time, was under the jurisdiction of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. Later, it fell under the Central Planning and Housing Authority (CH&PA).Damdar made claims to the CH&PA that Nevo was living abroad during the time he claimed to have applied for the land. Nevo was then asked by the authority to provide his documents to show that he was indeed in the country when the land was applied for, something he never did, Damdar said.On Saturday last, the man stood and watched helplessly as his house was torn apart and some of his belongings, along with his customers’ vehicles smashed and what could not be loaded quickly enough, were carted off by “junkies”.Residents, after noticing this, began to speak out. They called on the men to desist from destroying Damdar’s property.The man continued that the “demolition” crew did not comprise of any Housing official nor any rank from the police station. Nor was he informed to vacate the property.“The man (Nevo) and some junkies from the ghetto, bruck up my things them; my compressor, generator and all my tools, even my shed. It didn’t have any police or anybody from housing”.Damdar said that he returned to the meeting where he breathlessly explained to a man who appeared to be a security rank, who then took him to Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo.Nagamootoo, according to Damdar, asked the Officer in Charge (OC) to have two ranks visit the area. The OC then accompanied Damdar to the Lethem Police Station.A rank at the station, according to Damdar, said that he was aware of the matter and refused to go.“He tell me that he know what the story is about and how he understand that I trying to rob (Nevo) and that I should go before he lock me up. He tell the OC that he not going anywhere,” Damdar said.He then returned to the meeting where he spoke to the Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson, who was in the company of a popular government financier who also happens to be a relative of Nevo.Damdar said that as he began to tell the Minister what transpired, his voice was covered by the vocal campaigner who began speaking out of turn informing the officials present that Nevo was the legitimate owner of the land.Damdar then sought the Prime Minister’s intervention once more. However,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, the woman again, began drowning out his voice. Damdar was then escorted off of the stage.It is still unclear whether Nevo had indeed received ownership of the land since all efforts to contact him yesterday were futile.After the incident, Damdar, his pregnant wife and child, had to make do under a constructed makeshift roof between two cashew trees in their neighbour’s backyard, while the house he once occupied, has been levelled.“I got costumers who left dem car to fix by me calling me and I don’t know what to tell these people; I avoiding them,” the teary-eyed man said clutching a house plan he had gotten drawn recently to extend his home.A senior member of the Village Council,Wholesale China Jerseys, who requested anonymity, said yesterday that he understands that the land was “awarded” to Nevo but what transpired later was totally wrong and uncalled for. This matter, he said, needed to be addressed by the authorities as soon as possible.The man also added that there is a dire need to address the land situation in Tabatinga where there have been numerous reports of fraud, land grabbing and squatting taking place.This issue,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, he said, for years, has managed to pass under the nose of the previous administration. This time it is seemingly ecaping the current administration’s radar. |
