Gov't set to purchase controversial Red Hills Road property

The Jamaican Government has given the assurance that it will be moving ahead with the purchase of lands at 85 Red Hills Road in St. Andrew.  
    
Karl Samuda, Member of Parliament for North Central St. Andrew, said the Government has already moved to carry out its promise and would continue the process this year.  
    
He said Dr. Horace Chang, Minister with responsibility for Housing, has been in talks with the attorney of the property owner.  
    
Mr. Samuda said ownership of the property is just the first step as the government will be moving to develop the location.

"We're assuming ownership, but that's just where we're starting. After that we're going to put in infrastructure, the roads, and then we subdivide it up and the people will then be given the right to purchase, from among those who have been living there," Mr Samuda asserted in an interview with RJR News.
       
Residents at the Red Hills Road settlement, some claiming to be living on the land for more than 30 years, have been facing eviction since September 2016.  
    
The owner of the land reportedly said he had plans to construct a plaza at the location.  
    
But efforts to evict the residents were halted by the government which sought an injunction to bar the demolition exercise. The injunction was however turned down by a judge in chambers.  
    
But Mr. Samuda asserts that the Government has the right to acquire some properties for certain developments under the Local Improvements (Community Amenities) Act.  
    
The Act gives the Minister of Housing the power to declare an improvement order for any land, settlement, building or tenement.
 
"The whole idea is to make poor people get a chance to have a security of tenure. Why I was so hostile towards the judge and their decision was that people who were born there, thirty-odd years old, were going to be thrown out without any shelter. As a member of parliament, I couldn't stand for that, the MP declared.