Lucea mayor unhappy with development at Old Steamer Beach

WESTERN BUREAU:

Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuel is not happy with the time it is taking to survey the property boundaries at the Orchard (Old Steamer) beach in Hopewell, Hanover. The title for the property was recently handed over to the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), but there is uncertainty about the exact boundaries.

According to Samuels, the instruction to have the survey done was tasked to the HMC’s Roads and Works Department several weeks ago, but in his estimation, the exercise is taking an inordinately long time.

Samuels vented his frustration at a recent HMC physical planning and environment committee meeting, when questions were asked about which surveyor will be doing the required survey on the piece of property, only to be told that no surveyor has been identified.

Devon Brown, councillor for the Hopewell division where the beachfront property is located, likens the situation of not identifying a surveyor to a case of the roads and works department holding the HMC as hostages.

“We need to know where our boundaries are, how far up the road our land starts and where it ends,” said Brown, noting that there is no clarity about the property’s borders.

The situation at the beach is compounded by the fact that squatters are settling on sections of the beach-front property, which is under consideration for development by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), which plans to put in much-needed infrastructure.

The decision to have the property surveyed was taken during the February monthly meeting of the HMC’s planning committee, which came in the aftermath of the title for the property being handed over to the HMC by personnel from the previous owners, Maffessanti Limited.

In speaking to the bothersome squatting problem on the property, Samuel believes that having the land surveyed and developed would limit the opportunity for other squatters to join those already there.

“That is why I can’t afford for the roads and works department to be holding us up because we need to know where the boundaries are,” said Samuels. If things are allowed to continue as they are happening on the property at present, in short order there will be no beach for the residents of Hopewell and its adjoining areas to enjoy, and none for the TEF to develop,” said Samuel.

Despite the urgency of the situation, no ultimatum was served on the roads and works department to recruit surveyor and have the exercise completed.