Attorney Calls For Gov’t To Strengthen Laws Addressing Squatting | RJR News

By Kimone Witter   

Attorney-at-law Kalisia Findley is calling for the government to move with urgency to enact or strengthen legislation to deal with squatting in Jamaica.

Ms. Findley, who specialises in land matters, says the situation unfolding in Coopers Pen, Trelawny will happen again, as squatting has become a part of the island’s culture.

“And I think what we need to do, especially those in power, the legislator, we need some serious legislative enactment, we need some changes because this is going to keep happening. The unfortunate reality is that many persons cannot and simply will never be able to buy property. People think squatters are criminals. The vast majority of them are just honest, hardworking people,” she asserted.

Ms. Findley, who was speaking Monday with TVJ’s Smile Jamaica host Neville Bell, said residents of Coopers Pen whose houses were demolished will not have any legal redress if there is a valid court order to support the action.

She said the residents should have been notified of the court order prior to the demolition exercise.

Hypothetically, she pointed out that if a resident were served, “he could say, ‘Well, I didn’t see the notice’, but if I (the landowner) could prove that I put up a notice on his door, whether he saw it or not, it would still be legal.”

The land at the centre of the Coopers Pen dispute is privately owned. 

Meanwhile, as part of measures to address squatting on Crown lands, the government announced that any Jamaican who moves onto these properties as of June 9, with a view to squatting, will not be considered for any type of settlement programme.