The opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has activated a legal team with more than eight lawyers to provide legal assistance to 50 families who were ordered to remove from a disputed land in the village of Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara.

Attorney-at-Law and APNU Member of Parliament, Dexter Todd, visited the affected residents today in the company of other APNU Members of Parliament, one day after heavily armed Police and Court Marshalls moved into the community to oversee their removal from the land and the dismantling of their homes and structures in keeping with an order of the Court.

The land, occupied by approximately 120 persons, is reportedly owned by Rozel Di Leon Investments, but the residents are contending that they have been living on the land for more than 20 years.

In an interview today, MP Todd said the matter is not a political issue, but rather a legal issue.

He said cognizant of the fact that many of the affected persons may not be able to procure the services of a lawyer, the APNU has taken up the challenge to provide them with legal representation.

“We have 120 persons who have been affected and we are going to start to be able to strategically help 20 by 20 in terms of filing an action, in terms of being able to clarify. And I am telling you based on what we have been hearing, it is going to venture into a number of areas. It is going to venture into criminal acts, it is going to venture into civil acts, and so, what we are going to do as a party, what we are going to do is mobilize our legal team, which has already been activated, myself and we have over seven other lawyers,” MP Todd said.

Mr. Todd assured that nothing would be done to violate the orders of the Court. He said the party through a battery of lawyers will carefully examine the issues, and take appropriate legal action.

“Anything we do, we cannot fly in the face of the court, and you can’t violate a court order. We still operate in a hierarchical structure in this country, so that if one is dissatisfied, and if one believes that fraud was committed on the face of the court, meaning that someone misrepresented facts, in order to get the court to make an order then there are legal recourse to be had, to be able to rectify that. So, that is what I have said to them,” MP Todd said.

Meanwhile, APNU MP Sherod Duncan said the issue is not just a legal dispute over land, but it is also a deeply distressing humanitarian situation, explaining that families have been displaced and their belongings exposed to the elements and destroyed.

“While questions of land ownership and court orders are matters for the legal system, the human consequences of these actions cannot be ignored. These are Guyanese families, many of whom have lived in the area for years, now facing sudden displacement with limited or no immediate alternatives. The conditions under which they are currently living demand urgent attention and intervention,” MP Duncan said.

He said in this year’s budget, the Government said its guiding principle is “Putting People First”. He said that principle must now be put into practice.

“The government has also outlined ambitious housing targets, including the construction of thousands of homes this year. It is therefore both reasonable and necessary that the affected families at Friendship be prioritized within this national housing framework. This is not an overwhelming number of households. It is a manageable situation that, with political will and coordinated action by the Ministry of Housing and Water, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), and other relevant agencies, can be addressed in a humane and structured manner,” MP Duncan said.

Mr. Duncan challenged the Government to act decisively and to engage the affected families.

He said those affected ought to be given access to safe housing solutions.

MP Saiku Andrews was among the other APNU representatives on the ground today. Leader of the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) Simona Broomes was also on the ground engaging residents.

Meanwhile, Director of Rozel Di Leon Investment, Junior Rutherford, maintains that the company has legal ownership of the land. According to him, the land was purchased many years ago from the previous owner, Ellaine Adams.

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