Fear has gripped the community of Wallerfield as some residents claim they are now being threatened, intimidated and verbally abused by a serving member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) who has defied an order by the Commissioner of State Lands (COSL) to stop building on State land.
The corporal, who is attached to the Cumuto Camp base, has been deemed as an illegal occupier of a parcel of State land at Demarara Heights, Wallerfield, according to documents seen by Guardian Media.
The contentious matter was initially brought to the attention of the TTDF last September by residents Dickie Lashley, 53, and his 42-year-old common-law wife, an employee of the Ministry of National Security who wrote to the TTDF.
The letter was sent after they refused to remove a bamboo fence at the back of their home which borders a parcel of reserve land. This led to them allegedly being threatened and intimidated by the soldier in question.
The employee, who requested anonymity, sobbed in her Stone Street home on Tuesday, pleading with the COSL and the Police Service to look into the soldier, whom she claims has become a law unto himself.
On August 17 last year, Lashley said the contention began when they were ordered by a member of the TTDF to remove a bamboo fence behind their yard as the soldier claimed the land belonged to him.
Lashley said seven other Housing Development Corporation (HDC) residents were also instructed not to trespass on the land by the soldier who cordoned off the area with caution tape and planted pickets in the ground as markers.
The couple has been living in the HDC settlement for 16 years.
“He (soldier) also produced documents to members of the community stating he was granted permission by the Commissioner of State Lands to occupy the land and also identified himself as an HDC contractor,” Lashley said.
The residents, after doing some digging of their own, discovered that the soldier was “impersonating state officials to advance his personal quest to acquire State lands. When we asked about the plan for the area he indicated that he wanted to build a gas station because the area was developing for business,” Lashley said.
Jesse Reyes, one of the eight affected residents, said he too was occupying the land behind his home “and soldier man come and say he working with State lands. I didn’t want any trouble. So I backed off. The kind of people dealing behind there is real criminal activities...is drugs. I don’t like it at all.”
Unlike Reyes, the determined couple stood their ground, stating this is what led to the death threats being issued against them.
“The soldier told me I would end up murdered like one of my neighbours. I had to request a transfer to work in Tobago because I was fearful for my life,” the employee recalled.
On September 7, the soldier, Lashley said, pulled up in front of his home telling him “I told you not to plant anything on my f------ property.”
An occupant in their home was also threatened that same day by the soldier who told him “ah coming back for all yuh. This ain’t done yet.”
These threats were reported at the Pinto and Scarborough Police Stations.
On September 8, the couple claimed they were followed by the soldier to Port-of-Spain, where they delivered a letter to the TTDF complaint department about his misconduct.
Three days later, men wearing ski masks alighted from an army vehicle and uprooted the couple’s plants and crops behind her home valued hundreds of dollars.
On September 16, the affected residents held a meeting with two corporals of the TTDF who took statements from them.
The couple also visited Camp Cumuto last October to report the threats and gave a statement to Captain Carr about the soldier’s behaviour.
“That’s when an investigation began,” the employee explained.
Last month, residents were surprised to see a concrete structure being built behind their homes, and whenever it rained, the roadway and their properties flooded.
The employee said to compound matters, they observed a man known to be involved in illicit activities had been protecting the land.
In a letter dated October 5, 2022, addressed to acting COSL Bhanmati Seecharan, the employee raised concerns about the construction of the illegal structure in the community and queried if the land belonged to the State.
She also inquired from Seecharan in a September 4 letter, to investigate if the soldier was an employee of her division.
Officials of the Land Settlement Agency(LSA), HDC and the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation were also informed about the illegal structure and the tension it has been causing in the community.
Acting on the officer’s report, a quit notice signed by Seecharan and seen by Sunday Guardian was served to the soldier on October 19 “to deliver up possession of the parcel of state land” at Red Granite Street, “which you are now unlawfully in possession of without any probable claim or pretence of title.”
The notice gave him “seven days to cease illegal” occupation of the land and “a 40 feet by 20 feet concrete foundation.”
It also advised that legal action will be taken against him if he refuses to comply with the order.
When the Sunday Guardian visited the HDC community six days after the notice was served, three men were seen working feverishly on the structure which can be seen from the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway.
Frustrated by the state’s lack of action, the employee said, “A year later, I am still awaiting the outcome of the investigation by the Defence Force. I cannot understand how this soldier who claimed to work for State lands and HDC without showing any form of identification can forcibly remove residents from the reserve land and be allowed to break the law.”
The Sunday Guardian sent a list of questions via WhatsApp to Seecharan on Thursday regarding the quit notice served on the soldier and her next plan of action.
“I am out of the country. My staff will respond. I already sent it to her,” Seecharan wrote.
On Friday, Seecharan promised to provide responses to the questions but they were not forthcoming.
What Carr said
Contacted on Friday, Captain Carr admitted he was instructed to investigate the couple’s matter. A report was submitted last November, Carr recalled.
“The investigation was completed by myself and submitted.”
Pressed if the soldier was exonerated from the complaints levied against him, Carr replied , “I can’t disclose that information.”
He said if the couple wants further information they can send correspondence to the office of the Chief of the Defence Staff “for an update on the matter.”
Asked if he was aware that the acting COSL had recently served a quit notice on the soldier for illegally occupying State land Carr replied, “I am not aware of that because he (soldier) presented documentation from the Commissioner of State Lands office where he got authority from the commissioner to occupy said land.”
Asked if the soldier had presented documentation from the COSL to occupy lands at Red Granite Street, Carr said, “I can’t recall the specific parcel number, ma’am. But he presented documentation with respect to a property that was under dispute. And that was part of the investigation. But if you are telling me that he was served a notice to quit, I can only verify once I see the document (notice) and cross-reference it with my document I have in my possession.”
Carr asked for the notice to be WhatsApped to him. He later sent a WhatsApp message which read, “I am not authorised to speak on this matter.”
