The Government has allocated lots at Picton Phase One to 44 squatters affected by the extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin, Works Minister Suruj Rambachan said yesterday. He also said work on the highway might resume from the Point Fortin end by November once all oil lines along the way are removed. Rambachan spoke on the issue at yesterday’s weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair.
It was the first hosted by new Communication Minister Gerald Hadeed, who succeeded Jamal Mohammed. While Rambachan spoke about the allocation of the land for the squatters at Point Fortin, Highway Re-route Movement leader Wayne Kublalsingh and a couple of others were camped on the pavement opposite the OPM, continuing their protest against the Debe/Mondesir segment of the highway.
Asked if that segment would be the last to be worked on, Rambachan said this was not necessarily so, since it was a design-build item and the designs were being done currently. Rambachan said Cabinet had approved the offer of lots for the squatters at Cedar Hill, but because of delays in preparing the sites, they were offered lots at Picton which were available. Rather than holding back the process, Rambachan said, it was agreed to make the land available to the squatters.
He said they were offered the Picton lots under the same conditions as the Cedar Hill lots. Each would receive a residential lot of 5,000 square feet of land with a 30-year lease at an annual rate to be determined by the Commissioner of State Lands Asked about the Debe to Mondesir stretch, Rambachan said work would continue on “several segments” of the highway.