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Posted as a comment by Artax to Successive Governments Turn Blind Eye to Squatters at Grantley Adams International Airport

What is the latest information on the squatters at Rock Hall?

Or, as is usual with certain issues in Barbados, after all the furor and condemnation, it seems as though people have forgotten about the “Rock Hall squatters” …………. and apparently the issue has become a “nine day wonder?”

I understand a few weeks ago, government officials visited Rock Hall, took certain information from some of the squatters, and offered to sell them land somewhere in St. George. I also heard the illegal non-nationals ran away when the officials arrived, but returned after they left to ask what occurred.

Has anything been done to regularize the status of those illegal non-nationals who have illegally occupied land at Rock Hall and built houses there?

Or, since they continue to break the law by residing in Barbados and occupying land illegally, will they be deported?

Has government begun to the disburse the $25,000 Mottley promised the squatters and will the illegal non-nationals be eligible to receive the money?

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211 responses to “Rock Hall Solid as a Rock”

  1. Dullard Avatar
    Dullard

    Cheers Artax.

    Hopefully that is specific enough for the Blogmaster to grasp.

  2. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    As I mentioned, squatters can apply to BWA for water service.

    Is it true if they accumulate arrears, the land owner becomes LIABLE for the DEFAULT?

  3. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    “The notice further mentioned that the 13.12 hectares of land was the property of Balmoral Investments Ltd.

    Balmoral Investments is owned by the Bull family said to be resident in Canada “

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    The reason they are squatting is because of poor financial circumstance. How would you have suggested government seal with the problem TODAY.

  5. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David BU

    I thought I made my suggestion clear.

    Squatting is ILLEGAL and should not be condoned or encouraged.

    “Poor financial circumstances” should not be used as an excuse for people to break the law or give anyone the right to illegally occupy other people’s property.

    I’m in favour of removing ALL squatters and the undocumented non-nationals among them should be deported.

    There are other options government could consider, rather than REWARDING law breakers with $25,000 grants and free land.

    I’m sure you’re aware there are several unoccupied NHC units that could be repaired or refurbished and placed in a ‘rent to own’ program for qualifying squatters.

    Or, how about establishing a national revolving housing loan or mortgage fund; selling lots from the ‘land bank’ for $5 per sq.ft; or building ‘starter homes?’

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    What about the squatters who have given birth to children while living in Barbados (squatting).

    What about the Barbadians who are squatting as well?

    What about the fact many of these people have no financial means to legally acquire property or rent?

  7. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David BU

    RE: “What about the squatters who have given birth to children while living in Barbados (squatting).”

    Are you suggesting giving birth to children while living in Barbados entitle illegal immigrants to the same rights as Barbadians?

    RE: “What about the Barbadians who are squatting as well?”

    Did I not gave examples of options government could explore, rather than rewarding squatters with $25,000 grants and free land?

    RE: “What about the fact many of these people have no financial means to legally acquire property or rent?”

    Are you suggesting all the Barbadians and documented non-nationals living in Rock Hall “do not have no financial means to legally acquire property or rent,” especially when several of them expressed the view they are willing to purchase or rent the land they now occupy?

    @ David BU, perhaps you may want to explain how an undocumented non-national living here can qualify for the $25,000 grant or given access to land, especially if you take the amendment to the immigration act that was passed in 2008?

  8. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    We can agree to disagree.

  9. Dullard Avatar
    Dullard

    What about the squatters who have given birth to children while living in Barbados (squatting).

    What about the Barbadians who are squatting as well?

    What about the fact many of these people have no financial means to legally acquire property or rent?

    What about them?

    This conditional application of the law makes for a lawless society. You seen to be conflating the issues. Should the govt have mechanisms to assist the most vulnerable? Absolutely. But ‘poverty’ is no excuse to break the law.

    Too besides many of those squatters are not even poor by Bajan standards. Just lawless.

  10. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Shades of a clueless lawless govt
    That is just an observation from me based on the many comments that are condemning govt policies for the squatters

  11. David Avatar
    David

    Rock Hall folk still awaiting Govt’s word on relocation

    Squatters in limbo

    by DIARA SPRINGER diaraspringer@nationnews.com

    FOR YEARS, squatters at Rock Hall, St Philip, have lived with the promise of relocation, but many remain in limbo, waiting for answers from Government which they say seems to have forgotten them.

    “I would walk by around Christmas time hoping I’d be moving . . . and I was not one that was selected,” Yvette Drakes said yesterday.

    Drakes, who said she just has seven years left before reaching pension age, represented the frustration of those squatters who have watched others receive new homes while they abide in what Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley once described as “not liveable” conditions.

    The relocation of Rock Hall’s estimated 300 squatters as been a long-standing Government commitment. In 2023, then Minister of Housing and Lands Dwight Sutherland announced ambitious plans to relocate 227 residents, with some moved to newlyconstructed homes in Concordia Gardens and Dodds in St Philip, and other areas. He promised the others would be relocated within three years. However, residents reported that very few people have been relocated, with estimates ranging between only 20 and 30 individuals.

    In addition, some lament about a breakdown in communication, with a lack of updates or official correspondence from Government.

    “They don’t send letters. They don’t send anything,” Drakes said. “The only thing they do when they’re ready is walk through.”

    Cherise Arnold, whose family has been seeking permission for basic repairs to weatherproof their home, echoed this frustration: “We haven’t been hearing anything much about it. Nobody has been communicating with us properly. There needs to be better communication. We just keep getting the runaround.”

    Arnold said her family received contradictory instructions – first being given verbal permission for safety reinforcements, then receiving a notice prohibiting any construction work. When they sought written permission from the National Housing Corporation, they were met with silence, she added.

    “So they can’t tell us when we’re moving but yet can give us a notice that we can’t do repairs on what we have,” she told the DAILY NATION.

    While some housing has been constructed, residents report several problems with the relocation process. The new homes, according to Drakes, are delivered as basic shells requiring them to install their own cupboards and fixtures.

    Meanwhile, some squatters who were supposed to move never dismantled their old homes, leading to reoccupation of the original sites.

    “The people moved but the houses are still on the spot, which is a slight mistake to me in Government,” Drakes observed.

    Houses too small

    She noted that during the first wave of relocations, Government officials were present to oversee the dismantling of old structures, but this was absent during subsequent moves.

    For Rodney Raymon, who has lived in Rock Hall 20 years, the new houses do not meet his family’s needs.

    “The houses too small for me because my family is a sevenmember house. Those houses cannot fit all of us,” he said, adding he believed his current home was worth more than what the Government was offering.

    He has begun looking for land independently. “I can’t wait for Government. It’s been too many years.”

    Drakes said that contrary to public perception, they were not seeking free housing, as under the swap programme, they pay for the land while Government provides the house structure.

    “A lot of people out there think that Government is giving us something free. They are not. We have to pay for the land,” she stressed.

    Raymon expressed frustration about the State providing land to Afreximbank for a new facility while they remain in limbo.

    “I feel stink. They don’t care for the people of this island. They care about people who got money,” he charged.

    With hurricane season an annual threat, Raymon said they were caught between wanting to make safety improvements, and prohibition orders preventing basic repairs.

    “When the hurricane season come and my family in trouble, all of them will be comfortable and my family is to be left out to sea?” he asked.

    The squatters’ patience is wearing thin. Arnold called for monthly updates from authorities, while others simply want acknowledgement of their situation.

    Attempts to reach Sutherland yesterday for the latest on the relocation plans – before his resignation on September 3 – were unsuccessful.

    Source: Nation

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