The Bozine Town land dispute has long faded from the headlines, but for hundreds of residents of that New Providence community, the fight is still ongoing.
The residents have been fighting a 2004 court decision which said that they are not the rightful owners of the land in question.
According to Milton Evans, the attorney for the Bozine Town Steering Committee, court proceedings will resume on Monday and the committee will attempt to have the certificate held by Harrold Road Properties Limited, formerly known as Landco, set aside.
Mr. Evans said the company has also filed an application to block the residents’ application, claiming that there is no substance to their claim.
However, Mr. Evans said he will continue to fight to prove to the court that the residents’ claim to the land is justified.
“We are back and forth in the courts and no one is willing to back down,” he said.
“Of course the Harrold Road Land Company will continue to try and prove that they are the legal owners to the titles and Bozine residents will continue to fight for the properties that they occupied. So this dispute is going to take a long time to resolve.”
Attorney General Alfred Sears indicated on Tuesday that the government is still committed in having the dispute resolved.
He said his office was still investigating the matter.
“The government has taken a very keen interest in the matter because the potential is to displace hundreds of persons, many of whom have title documents, some of which have been in their possession for 30 years or more and the impact of such dispossession would be very significant and would cause a major dislocation to our society,” Minister Sears said.
He said investigations are also being conducted by the Department of Lands and Survey and the Department of Social Services.
Minister Sears said the government continues to explores ways in which it would be able to assist the residents in the event the court rules against them.
Meanwhile, the land development company has reportedly agreed to refrain from taking any action against the residents while the court matter is outstanding.
In October 2004, the company had ordered the residents off the land if they could not purchase it.
Following the demand, Member of Parliament for Blue Hills Leslie Miller assured the residents that they would not be forced off the land even if the government had to intervene to protect them.
Residents in Bozine Town told The Bahama Journal on Tuesday that waiting to know whether they will remain on the land at the end of the court proceedings has been torture.
The properties in question stretch from the western boundary of Bozine heading to Knowles Drive, which is west of Penn’s Builder’s Square.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
