The cries of the people who are being robbed of their land ﾑin broad daylightﾒ are deafening. There are countless of complaints of people who spoke to me and my associates of the horror stories of a ﾑbig time developerﾒ who are literally taking their land away. This “Jesse James” style act is perpetrated on unassuming people who are unable to afford lawyers, on single ladies, on older people and particularly on the weak. A lady whoﾒs property has been in her family for four generations too have been threatened.
This ﾑbig time developerﾒ threatens their prey that they would place an injunction on the property, tying up the property in courts for many years, expecting the unfortunate person to become disgusted and finally giving up the fight. The ﾑbig time developerﾒ then TAKES THE PROPERTY.
The ladies in Pinewood who approached me took me to their houses that have already been built. Two of the homes have since been vandalized because it was unoccupied. They also provided papers where they have been paying the bank mortgage for as many as five years and cannot move into their homes because a developer is now claiming the land. They, in my presence proved their case by calling BEC who was unable to justify why power could not be given even since deposits have been paid for years. Further investigations proved that the Ministry of Works allegedly objected to power being supplied.
The ladies who approached me pleaded to me not to expose this because they fear of repercussions from this very powerful developer, but I could not keep quiet after watching the tears that flowed and the pain I saw in their eyes. It is unforgivable to see a fellow Bahamian being taken advantage of in this inhumane way and no-one lifts a finger to do anything.
The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, who some describe as being a caring and compassionate man, must know of these occurrences. He must have known for a long time that well known Bahamian developers are ﾑripping offﾒ Bahamians. This is a perfect example for the Prime Minister to step in now and bring relief to these people. Every Bahamian knows of these incidents. Many people in Pinewood particularly could expound on these most unfortunate events.
How come a person could be sent to jail for stealing something as small as a television and others who apparently are ﾑwell connectedﾒ do not even get questioned for stealing something as valuable and with serious sentimental attachments as LAND. How come so many people could build on some one else land in a civilize society and nothing said. I told some business associates from New York that in the Bahamas people could choose a piece of property and build on it and the law does nothing about it. This is happening everyday especially on the family islands. That is why foreigners go the family islands especially the undeveloped ones and literally take what they want. This is happening on a big scale in Cat Island. I know of which I speak.
We must be careful how we back people in a corner. People, who have spent, in some cases, their last dollar to get their homes, are not going to stand idly by and let some ﾑshysterﾒ take their things. This is a preventable thing. A word to the wise is sufficient.
Ivoine W. Ingraham
