The attack against the squatters aback of some Lower East Coast Demerara villages has shocked many. The disaffection has reached the stage where a member of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) opted to resign.
Member of Parliament, Attorney at Law, Amanza Walton-Desir, told the media that the attack against the squatters has transcended politics.
“The issue of the squatters and the situation is not a political issue. It is a human right and an issue of human dignity. Were we not so politically divided a country we could all agree it is an issue of human rights and dignity.”
The demographics of the squatters show that the affected people are not confined to one ethnic group.
“The actions of the government is callous. I look with much distress seeing mothers packing up their bundles and trekking out with thir children and having no idea of where they are going to go.” Ms Walton-Desir said that it is saddening to see some of the commentaries on social media. It would appear that people have lost their humanity.
“You can see in a pandemic that is gripping the world, you can see other countries making interventions. It is disheartening to see comments like ‘Why didn’t Granger give them land?’ or ‘Squatting is illegal’.
“To target a community by flooding where they live; and people with babies, where they live with children; this is no political issue.
“It is an issue of human rights; it is an issue of human dignity.”
To date no one has asked where these people can go or will go. Ms Walton-Desir said that for many, the squatting house they occupied was the only home they knew.
“A number of them have been put out because they cannot afford the rent because they don’t have their jobs due to the pandemic. I want to call on Guyanese, particularly those who are right-thinking to roundly condemn this action.”
The government claimed that it needs the land to resuscitate the sugar industry. However, a few months, while in Opposition, it was the government that sent people to squat on the land. This provoked a sympathy vote.
