VP restates government’s willingness to assist ‘misled’ Mocha squatters

Despite the “misleading” advice given to a small number of Mocha squatters who sued the State over lands they occupied and lost, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo has reiterated the government’s willingness to work with them to facilitate their relocation.

The Vice-President gave the assurance today during his weekly press briefing.

He stated that the court had already ruled that the Mocha squatters had no prescriptive rights or legal title to the land they had been occupying.

Prior to this ruling, Jagdeo noted that the government had offered assistance to over 100 Mocha residents, providing them with alternative plots of land for relocation.

The government remains committed to assisting the squatters, he said, adding: “Even for the ones who did not succeed in their court challenge, we are still ready to engage them.”

Although the squatters had taken the government to court and are now “not eligible for anything”, Jagdeo emphasised that the government would rather continue working with them than leave them homeless.

He blamed Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton for misleading the Mocha squatters, falsely convincing them that they could win the land case against the State. Jagdeo further described Norton as “callous” for saying that he was “happy” with the advice he had given the squatters, despite the fact that they must now pay legal fees.

The six Mocha squatters who challenged their removal from government lands must now pay $2M in costs to the Attorney General, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo)—the three respondents in the case.

In response, the Vice-President questioned whether the Opposition Leader would take responsibility for the squatters’ multi-million-dollar debt.