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PRICELESS: A community in Sea Lots which may no longer be there if government's moves ahead with its national revitalisation blueprint project. - Photo by Faith AyoungSEA LOTS residents say their community is priceless and as such, they have a list of demands ahead of any government planned public consultations, as it prepares to build an industrial park in the community as part of its national revitalisation blueprint.
Newsday visited the community on November 11, to find out how residents felt about the blueprint and to see if they were willing to relocate.
Residents said they do not expect the UNC to make good on its plans as they have seen and heard it all before with governments announcing grand mega projects which never materialised.
The majority of those who spoke with Newsday said if this government is serious, then they want to be fairly compensated and do not want to be dropped in any “plannings” in another part of the country.
During the launch last week of the revitalisation blueprint, Works and Infrastructure Minister Jearlean John said the Sea Lots Industrial Park and Free Trade Zone will be a 100-acre space with an expanded warehousing complex. She noted it will allow for smoother trade flows and a diverse mix of cargo.
Newsday messaged John on Tuesday and asked whether she could assure Sea Lots residents that they will be treated fairly and respectfully in development plans.
She suggested the residents will benefit in terms of jobs and redesigned communities but did not say whether they will be relocated.
John said there is “significant focus” on Sea Lots and other adjacent communities and promised “robust consultations” with residents and businesses.
“It is critical that modern infrastructure which anchors new business opportunities, to facilitate light industrial capacity bringing the much needed jobs and new well designed communities to house the existing and future residents,” she said.
'GOVT MUST
COME GOOD'
None of the Sea Lots residents interviewed wanted to give their name. In fact, when this reporter and a colleague turned up on Tuesday, everyone was tight-lipped at first. After establishing who we said we were, a man spoke on a walkie-talkie: "yeah, is all good, dem is reporters."
Residents said they have not yet had any consultation with state officials and don’t believe this will ever happen.
But they insist if it does, the state’s negotiators “need to come good” if they expect residents to give up everything they worked hard to build.
“My family has been here for three generations,” said a woman who runs a variety store out of her home. “We built this house piece by piece, block by block,” as she gestured to her two-storey home. She insisted she is open to leaving as she has always had dreams of living near the sea on the north coast.
She said, however, she is also quite content to stay put if government does not treat her fairly.
“You can’t want to move me from here and put me in a plannings, or somewhere cramped eh, with two bedrooms and one bathroom and my neighbour right there. That is not how I’m living here and I can’t be comfortable like that.”
Another woman said although she has lived in Sea Lots her entire life, "if the price is right,” she would be happy to leave.
“Everything has a price yuh know. Life is all about change. Nothing ever stays constant.”
An employee at a nearby business agreed and said he wants a change of scenery. But he too reiterated: "It cyah be no plannings eh." He said he wanted a single-house unit with a yard in front. “As long as the money right and they don’t try to put me in no plannings, yeah, I gone!”
A young mother-of-two said she would welcome relocation as she has wanted to leave for years. She said the breaking-point for her was the murder of a relative killed in a case of mistaken identity, because of the stigma attached to Sea Lots.
Her neighbours shared similar sentiments saying if given the opportunity, they too will leave. A man said, “I will gladly move but once it's not somewhere that's flood-prone and have water issues. We don't have such issues here.”
'SEA LOTS IS
PRICELESS'
While many residents said they were willing to leave, a group of young people liming near the community centre were opposed to any relocation plan.
Approached for comment, they expressed indignation and a woman in the group shared crude suggestions about where the prime minister could put the revitalisation blueprint. They said they will not be bought and insisted nothing could make them leave.
“Sea Lots is priceless! It ent have a price for my house. Them want to come here and just move me? Never! I not going through that!”
A young man said he believes previous governments resented the residents because the land they live on is valuable given its coastal location and proximity to the capital. He said he hoped this government would have been different.
“They said when UNC wins, everybody wins, but the only win we getting is the kind that does cause gas pain (wind).”
Noting the government’s recent decision to shut down Cepep and URP, a woman suggested it would be better for everyone if the government provided jobs for the community instead.
“They done take away work from me and now they want to take away my house? Take the same money they want to use to redevelop here and use it to hire young mothers in the area who have no job since they shut down Cepep.”
They also raised concerns about their safety and security as they noted Sea Lots is relatively crime-free.
The community has its own neighbourhood watch system as residents use a simple but effective communications network to raise an alarm when they see strange cars and people in the area. This, they said, gives them a sense of security and community togetherness.
“You don't hear no murders and ting in here. They want to move us and where we go, we will be sitting ducks,” a man said. Residents were also worried about the problems they will face integrating into other communities.
“People still going and watch us a kinda way. When I tell them I move from Sea Lots, I sure they going and act a certain way with me. And then they might want to target us or blame us for anything that happens in the community.” The only was this group of residents said they would leave, if the entire community was relocated en masse and to one location.
“I want when I wake up, the man I see in the yard next to meh is the same man I used to see when I push my head out the door on a morning in Sea Lots. We build here as a community, and if anything has to happen, it has to happen as a community.”
Despite many wide and sometimes differing views, the residents were more or less unanimous in their scepticism on the revitalisation blueprint given their experiences with past governments. The revitalisation blueprint was generally described as “political gimmickry.”
Residents said previous governments, including the UNC and the PNM, all touted plans for their community, but nothing ever came of it.
“All that was just lies and ole talk. They're just trying to fool people. Since my parents small we hearing of such plans. So, as we have done in the past, we will wait and see." A resident said he believes the plan was too expensive to be realised.
“They wait until people spend money and build big house in here and want to move we. Look at how many people in here have concrete houses. You think they can pay them for that?”
A woman said the government was just playing politics and urged her neighbours to dismiss any thoughts of the government relocating them.
“Don’t study these foolish (politicians). They think is only dunce living here. Okay yes, it have some dunce, but not all of us dunce eh. That is just politics they're playing with us.”
English (US) ·