HEATED words from Rampanalgas residents followed the warm reception they gave to Social Development Minister Dr Amery Browne and the area's Member of Parliament Indra Sinanan Ojah-Maharaj on Sugar Hill last week.

The two parliamentary representatives were in Sugar Hill to participate in an open forum with villagers after an outreach programme earlier in the day.

The poverty stricken area came into the national spotlight earlier this year after the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Kerry Maraj during a family dispute and the death of ten-month-old baby Angelia in a house fire.The incidents, which were just over five weeks apart, occurred a stone's throw away from each other.

The Members of Parliament were greeted with a prepared petition signed by the villagers outlining their plight to have legal ownership granted for the State lands they have been living on for the past 30 years.

The president of the Rampanalgas Village Council Edward Mahadeo blazed the trail first as he chaired the open forum.

Mahadeo said it was "far too long" the villagers had waited for legal tenancy for the land and "we want the land now!".

And the strong afternoon breeze seemed to fan the passion in every villager present at the meeting.

Jobe Millington, secretary of the village council, read out the petition, which was addressed to President George Maxwell Richards, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, and Housing Minister Dr Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde and Tina Gronlund-Nunez along with the two MPs present at the meeting.

Millington read, "We are well aware that with your powers combined, there is nothing that can stop you from doing what is necessary to grant us this humble request."

He added, "Our prayer is that our leaders and our custodians see the need to grant the poorer among you...a fighting chance in a global economy which is daily becoming more difficult to survive in".

Many other residents recounted their bad experiences with the Housing Development Corporation but said protest was not an option because it would be viewed as politically motivated.

In response Browne said he was disappointed that the villagers did not mention many of the area's social ills, which he had witnessed for himself.

Browne said, "I did not come to hear about the land situation but I did, clearly it is a need you have." He added the area's "most pressing issue" of land tenure was not unique but one which "was grappled with by a number of other communities".

Ojah-Maharaj in her address to the community said "yes I know you have a land issue but there is a process".

However, in the midst of airing their grievances the villagers thanked the government for "the many social development programmes you have offered and continue to pursue".

The outreach programme in the poverty-stricken community included free medical tests for blood pressure, diabetes and hepatitis along agricultural assistance including instructions for "grow box" agriculture and also pamphlets on incest, HIV/ Aids and other social ills.