THE EDITOR, Madam:
THE RECENT announcement by Water and Housing Minister Karl Blythe on the removal of squatters in the Ocho Rios area, has brought to mind the seriousness of the act of trespassing in Jamaica as a whole.
Can the country develop successfully when this problem has become a national pastime. In trying to follow the genesis of this problem I have discovered that squatting started from the 1830s and has now reached its peak in the 1990s as the population expands dramatically and economic conditions worsen.
However, I must ask the question, is Jamaica a trespassing society?
Have you ever gone about your business and parked your vehicle only to return and see persons waiting on you for a drive home? It is even worse when persons take your vehicle as a public park bench. How many of us as property owners have suffered, at the hands of persons who simply wonder unto your fenced property to reap your goods under the belief that what you own is communal property? What about those who deface your newly painted walls with graffiti or posters or worse yet want to turn your property into 'idlers rest'? Moreover, if you dare protest you are deemed to be fighting poor people.
At present, one of the greatest acts of trespassing surrounds the disposal of garbage on unoccupied lands. What kind of society are we building when young children learn these habits and practice them?
It is full time we tackle these problems seriously. The government must be firm in its decision to remove squatters as they should not have any say in determining which lands they want to live on. Why should the government spend money on projects like Operation Pride only to have beneficiaries not paying their contributions.
What is most revolting is that when demolition crews execute their jobs you see people on television telling you how many children they have to feed when birth control is one of the cheapest things in Jamaica. I have never seen or heard a politician telling these persons they cannot have children and expect other people to take care of them. Isn't this trespassing?
Squatting must be fully discouraged because many of them are most unreasonable and once you 'give them an inch dem tek a mile'. Ironically, isn't the government the greatest trespasser when they and their agencies trespass on people's rights?
I am, etc.,
ARTHUR TUGWELL
