Seven of the 37 Curepe families who were told their homes are in the way of the Government's $221million Curepe Interchange project have been given one week to accept the State’s offer for their properties or be evicted.
According to spokesman Ravindra Maharaj, although the residents do not yet know what the offer will be as the details have not been discussed, they are being bullied out of their homes.
This news comes following a meeting between attorneys for the residents and the State on Friday evening. The residents and the State have been at loggerheads for almost a year as they have failed to agree on a cost for the properties. Residents were first put on notice in 2013 that their lands would be acquired by the State for the interchange. Negotiations between the parties broke down sometime in 2018 when the residents were told they will be paid $175 per square feet for their land instead of $250 per square feet, which they said was first offered to them.
“We have stayed in limbo since 2013 when they first came with Section 3 notices to inform us that they wanted to acquire the land and told us we could not do any repairs or upgrades to our homes and we had to close our businesses,” Maharaj said yesterday. “It’s not that we cannot come to an agreement, it is that the State is not willing to sit with us to negotiate. We are being told now to accept the 80 per cent of the offer or they will come with a marshal and evict us.
“We don’t know what the 80 per cent of their offer will be because the heads of claims were not discussed so we can’t even have an idea on what we might get.”
Maharaj said China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), the Chinese firm awarded the million-dollar contract, has started work on several vacant lots in the area, although neither he nor his neighbours have been paid any money by the State for their lands.
In December, another resident, Rudy Singh gave the Sunday Guardian a letter from the Commissioner of Valuations offering him a compensation package in April 2018. Since then, Singh said he has not received anything else in writing.
The next step for the residents is the court.
“It is so sad to see this is the road they want to take with us, we are meeting with another attorney soon and he will advise us on what action we can take,” Maharaj said.
Sinanan: Time running out
Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said the State was running out of time to acquire land in the Curepe area for the Interchange project.
Although Sinanan did not say how much time the State has left, he said if they fail to hand over the lands to China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) they will face penalties.
“The reason why we are moving apace now is because we are running out of that time…I mean negotiations have been ongoing for quite a while and I suspect now that it is probably time to have these things finalised,” Sinanan said.
But Sinanan said contrary to what Maharaj was saying, negotiations are pending for only five properties.
“It is just five properties that we are talking about that are to finalise, it is these five properties that are actually keeping back the project.”
He said once the residents have been served with Section 3 and 4 notices, the State can legally take possession of their properties.
Asked what will happen to the families if they refuse to accept the offer and their properties are seized, Sinanan said, “Once you get served with Section 3 and 4 then the State has the right to take possession. In those lands, Section 3 has been served since 2013 and Section 4 served about a year ago—the State has the right at any point in time to move in and take possession while negotiation continues, that is the law of the land. The family could put in a claim for 80 per cent of the money while they continue to negotiate.”
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Contract history
In June 2015, the National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Nidco) announced that two contractors had been selected to complete the Curepe Interchange project.
The $400 million contract was split between two contractors—Lutchmesingh Transport Company and Vinci Construction. But when the People’s National Movement (PNM) took office in September 2015, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley ordered that the project be halted.
Tenders were opened in March 2017 and when it was closed three months later, Chinese firm, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) was awarded the $221.7 million contract. The project was supposed to be completed in 18 months.
Construction was supposed to begin at the start of 2018 but a year later, five plots of land have been cleared and work can be seen ongoing on three of those five.
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State acquisition of land
There are two ways that the State can acquire property needed for development in the public’s interest: through private treaty or through compulsory purchase.
Private treaty agreements utilise the normal open market approach for acquisition. Compulsory purchases are done through the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1994 which gives the State the right to acquire property without the owner’s agreement.
Although the compulsory purchase approach was taken in the Curepe acquisitions, the State also uses the private treaty to negotiate the price it will pay to the landowners for their property.
Under the LAA, property owners can be paid up to 80 per cent of the agreed sum for their properties before the State takes possession of it, allowing them the funds to invest in another home or property.