Last night, you saw the squatters who were getting in the way of the construction of Lake I Boulevard which will connect the Western Highway with Belama's Chetumal Street. The reports we were getting on the ground were that 20 houses and 100 people needed to move. Tonight, we've confirmed with the contractor that based on their official survey, only 6 of those houses will have to be moved from where they're currently located.
But since yesterday, the group of people who believed that they were being forcibly removed for the development, have been trying convince the Government to basically leave them be. Things got confrontational this morning when the loads of clay ended up right at the door step of one those houses in the way, and we went back to find out what would be their fate. Daniel Ortiz reports:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
The truck loads of clay kept on coming, and the workers kept pushing it down, edging the development closer and closer to the houses which are in the way.
Strictly speaking, these workers aren't doing anything wrong. They are just following the orders of the contractor.
They have families to feed, and they can only do so by doing the job they were paid to do.
The adults squatting in this location looked on helplessly, while children ran around and played around adjacent to the dangers of the heavy equipment.
There was nothing that they could do. Tears of frustration flowed freely.
Karen Henriquez - Being Pushed Off Land
"This morning we were here and we ask the man if they are going to go farther than that and they say no they are going to stay there. You can look at the barrels; they are filled with dirt and mud. The water in there is what we use to wash and bathe with. I am so disappointed, I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go because now we are hearing that Mark King is saying that there people only have two years living here and that we are making a lot of noise. Come on, don't be a liar, tell the truth. He knows that we are here for a long time. When he needed to get into power I saw him coming in through that broken up bridge and he came and ask every one of us for votes. Now that we need him he can't face us."
Daniel Ortiz
"The impression that people are getting at this moment is that it's only an immigrant community that is trying to form here."
Luwiena Garnett - Squatter
"All of us are poor people and then we need a piece of land in life. We came and we squat because we went to the government and they are not giving us any land, they don't have anything to give us because we are poor and black, so we come to squat - find something for us to earn and we have our children. What will happen to our children later days to come? They will cannot own anything if we can't own it now."
Karen Henriquez - Being Pushed Off Land
"I feel so disappointed. I am sorry I am crying. It's not a drama that I am doing here, but seeing the fact that the place we work so hard to get is just going to the garbage."
Since yesterday, we've been trying to reach Lake I Area Representative Mark King for comment, but he hasn't responded or the rest of the media.
This evening, we spoke with Francis Woods, The Director of Cisco Construction, the company which is in charge of the development. Woods told us that they've done an official survey and only 6 houses stand in the way of the development on Lake I Boulevard. He added that it his understanding that efforts will be made to help those in the way to move their houses out of the way. He tells us that Mark King has been handling the situation.
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