MARIANNRIDGE residents have vowed not to back down on their decision to occupy land illegally. They claim they have been left out in the government housing project for many years now.
The residents have begun erecting structures and divided the sites into about 300 plots on land which is in Mercury Crescent Road, opposite the Mariannridge Library.
This invasion sparked chaos on Thursday, 18 October which resulted in schools being closed for few days.
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“We have been working on that area for a few weeks now and we were shocked when the Land Invasion Unit came to remove us with no explanation,” said resident, Terrance Crawford.
“We demanded answers and that is when the chaos erupted and they started shooting at us, even shooting at the school children and damaging some of the structures.”
“We ended up blocking the road as we were protecting the children and teachers. It was us who were accompanying them out safely, using another entrance, we did not cause any chaos. As soon as the commotion ended, after about three hours, we went back and continued working on that land,” said Crawford.
According to another resident, Debbie Marillier, the land was marked for human settlement by the municipality.
“For more than 16 years now we have been promised houses, we have five generations living in the same block of flats. Over the past years, the municipality has located three areas of land, but when it is time for action, we are given stories that the area is not safe or suitable for development.”
She said people from outside the Mariannridge area have occupied one piece of land and “it is us, as residents of this area, who are left squashed in one flat,” she said.
“We have hired our own TLB, we are willing to build our own houses, not that we are rich but we are going to try.”
“The only thing we need from the municipality, is resources such as water, sanitation and electricity as they have failed to build us houses.”
The Mariannridge community has complained on many occasions about shack dwellers who are stealing their water and electricity and Marillier told the Highway Mail they will not be stealing any water or electricity as they know what it feels like; which is the reason they are pleading with municipality to at least provide them with those basic services.
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Ward 13 councillor, Reginald Bouy Cloete, said land invasion has never been legal.
“It is the municipality Land Invasion Unit ‘s mandate to clear out people who are occupying land illegally.”
Cloete said there are 22 houses which are currently being built in the Mariannridge area and it will not stop there as that is just the beginning of a bigger housing project.
“There is a budget for 500 houses, but the problem is usually suitable land to build those houses on, but in January, once a new company has been contracted, the housing project will continue and we ask for residents to be patient,” he said.
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