Landowner seeking to reclaim illegally sold property

WESTERN BUREAU:

A Trelawny landowner is planning to seek a court order to get several persons who claimed to have forked out huge sums for parcels of his property in Scarlett Hall in the parish to vacate the lands.

Gordon Brown, who has documentation to confirm he is the legitimate owner of the property and was unaware of the transactions, said he was shocked to find persons claiming ownership of parcels, which they claimed to have purchased through another person claiming to own the land.

“It appears that people have allowed themselves to be duped by scammers into buying land for which they cannot get any title,” he told The Gleaner.

“Some of them have told me they bought lots for as much as $300,000,” said Brown, who noted that the land is not for sale.

He expressed sympathy for persons who have already gone ahead to also start constructing buildings.

“I have gone there and put up signs indicating my ownership and these people have savagely destroyed them,” said Brown, who has been meeting strong resistance from the occupants.

NOT BLAMELESS

He said that the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) was not blameless as it should not have allowed the takeover of his property.

“They (TMC) have been complicit with these squatters, who have begun to construct dwellings on the property. The municipality has a statutory responsibility to put stop orders on these people, who are in the process of constructing structures illegally. The law empowers them to deal with these persons,” Brown complained.

He said that he has written to the TMC, seeking its assistance in addressing the matter, but he has received no response, leaving him with no other option but to seek legal redress.

“I have written an affidavit to the chief executive officer, Andrew Harrison, but to date, he has not done anything. Nor has he responded to any communication,” said Brown, who provided copies of the documents he reportedly sent to the municipal body.

When The Gleaner made contact with the TMC, our news team was told that Harrison was not available to speak on the matter. However, a source at the corporation said that she is aware that a stop order was placed on a building on the property.

Brown is intent on reclaiming full possession of the property and intends to seek a court order.

“When I get that order, I am going there to demolish everything, with a certain degree of civility,” said Brown. “Major development plans are being put together for the area. The plans are for an entirely new industry, which is significant and transformative. Miscreants cannot be allowed to derail plans which will benefit people and the country on the whole.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the alleged price paid for a plot of the captured land as US$300,000 instead of J$300,000.