Tuesday, May 13 2008

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Police and army officers keep an eye on Spring Village, Valsayn, residents during a protest yesterday morning. ...

RESIDENTS at Spring Village, Valsayn, yesterday squared off with security officials attached to the Housing Development Corporation after they were prevented from entering farm lands in the area.

The residents claimed the HDC now plans to bulldoze 50 acres of land in the area to put up housing developments.

There was a heavy police and army presence as residents and farmers came out in protest of what was being done to their farm lands.

Angry farmers yesterday expressed concern over the possibility of them being displaced as well as a number of Spring Village residents.

Dave Benny, a farmer with over 50 workers, questioned what was going to happen to him and his employees.

“What will happen to the people who work for me, when they clear the land, what will the boys of the neighbourhood do, go out and rob people like you and me?” Benny warned that plans to relocate them will be met with resistance.

Mukesh Radhay, president of the Spring Village Council, said the socio-economic impact on the village could be catastrophic.

He also warned of floods if houses are built on the land.

“Spring Village is a flood-prone area as almost every year we experience flooding, causing hundreds of thousands dollars worth of damage and if that acreage is developed we will have flooding in the entire village,” he said. Another farmer expressed disbelief that Government was destroying agricultural land when they should be promoting farming in light of high food prices.

“Why would they do this when we are helping to put food on people’s tables?”

When approached yesterday, Trevor St. Louis, senior security manager for HDC, would only say: “ I am operating on instructions from the management of HDC not to allow anyone on the property.”

Noel Garcia, manager, for HDC could not be contacted despite numerous attempts by Newsday.

Last Thursday, tractors bulldozed five acres of farm lands, destroying crops in the Spring Village community.

One day later, Agriculture Minister Arnold Piggott demanded a report from the HDC on the destruction of food crops.

The fields which were being tended by five farmers were ready for harvesting when they were bulldozed.

Meanwhile, HDC communications manager Leslie John, at that time, confirmed that while a report had been prepared by the housing agency and was expected to be forwarded to the Agriculture Ministry, the HDC had not performed any work at Real Spring, Valsayn, which she described as a “private site.”

She said the site at which preliminary grading works had been performed by the HDC was at Dookiesingh Trace in St Augustine.

In a statement, Vasant Bharath, St Augustine MP, condemned what he said was the oppressive, discriminatory and vicious destruction of farmers’ lands at Spring Village.