WESTERN BUREAU:
MORE THAN three months after the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) threatened to evict squatters from its lands at Barrett Hall, St. James, houses are still being constructed on the property.
Up to last weekend, work was in progress on several houses, including some two- and three-story buildings.
Earlier this year, the UDC had indicated it would be reclaiming 191.5 acres of the 474-acre property. It said that the last in a series of notices had expired on June 28, and that the company had not been successful in its efforts to dissuade the illegal settlers from continuing construction on the property.
"The response from the squatters has not been positive. Persons have defied the UDC and continued to build, almost in an effort to intimidate the UDC into giving up its property," the company said in July.
The UDC declined to discuss the matter last week but said, "We are still working on that issue, and very shortly we will be making an announcement."
Sixty-six concrete, and 34 wooden structures will be affected, if the UDC decides to go ahead with its planned eviction.
