Curepe residents: We are being backed into a corner

RESIDENTS of the Curepe Interchange, where government seeks to claim land as part of a project to build an overpass, are now saying that they are being backed into a corner.

In a conversation with Newsday today residents said time was running out for them to settle on a final price for the land which they have been living on for generations, and the evidence which they have provided to valuators is being ignored.

Newsday understands that the deadline for settling on a final price is today.

“We are being pushed to a corner. That is how the homeowners are feeling. We have a government valuator who is not coming to understand our terms. We have given her all the evidence she has asked for and she is refusing to accept it,” one resident said.

Residents said beside providing the valuators with a price for the land they have also compared with prices of land near their homes which have been valued at $260 per sq ft, but government valuators have determined that the land which the Curepe Interchange residents live on, has been valued at about $175 per sq ft.

“The property we live on is prime property. No human being would sell for such a price, especially since we have been living here for so long. We are finding information for her but she is not accepting it so where does that leave us?” the resident said.

Residents fear that government would eventually force them off the land using section three and four of the Land Acquisition Act, but in a conversation with Minister of Works, Rohan Sinanan Newsday was told that they will only move forward with acquisition if they are so advised by the Valuation Division.

“Once we get notification that there is a stalemate then the ministry will look at our options, but up to this point in time we have not gotten any indication,” the Minister said.