10 years in shelters - Residents who refused to leave temp storm dwellings in Golden Grove demand legal ownership

Nearly a decade after sugar workers were temporarily moved into the Golden Grove housing development to shelter from Hurricane Matthew, some say they remain in legal limbo without titles to the properties they were “forced” to finish equipping themselves.
Just over 80 people were relocated from Golden Grove Barracks and Ivan Housing Scheme in Duckensfield, St Thomas, to Golden Grove Meadows ahead of the storm’s expected passage in September 2016. However, after the threat was over, many refused to vacate the unfinished European Union-funded houses despite signing contracts indicating that they would.
Their numbers have since ballooned and they are now calling for the intervention of the Ministry of Agriculture to secure titles for the units they have occupied since that time, arguing that the documents ought to be given to them.
“Nobody nuh get nuh title,” lamented one resident, who did not give his name. “Dem say the land nuh cut off from SCJ (Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited). A dem a do the holding-up.”
The man, who operates a small shop and bar in the community, said having the title could further his business, noting that it could be used as collateral for a loan.
The Sunday Gleaner contacted the SCJ Holdings for comment on the matter and was told that while the entity owns the lands, it is the ministry that is responsible for the houses.
The ministry acknowledged questions sent on June 25 by The Sunday Gleaner about the matter, but it has not yet responded. A representative indicated that an update would have been provided last Friday, but up to press time, it was not received.
Facing the threat of Hurricane Matthew, Claudette Thompson recalled that residents in vulnerable areas, some living in the sugar barracks, were called to the Golden Grove Police Station for a meeting.
She said they signed a document that indicated that they would be allowed to stay temporarily in the units.
“Majority of the people move in dem things the Saturday night just before the hurricane. After the hurricane, we decide say we not going back. So we did not go back. We stand up and fight for we rights,” Thompson, a former sugar worker, told The Sunday Gleaner.
She said a meeting was held with representatives from the ministry and SCJ Holdings following the storm’s passage, where the residents told the authorities that they would not be leaving.
“We nuh hear from dem from that,” the woman said.
A copy of the contract, dated September 30, 2016, that was obtained by The Sunday Gleaner at that time, said the residents were only being allowed to stay in the houses because of the hurricane threat. 
“I further acknowledge that Housing Unit Lot No. ____ is not fully completed and ready for handover and that there are still outstanding works to be undertaken. However, for my/our safety, I/we agree to take temporary possession of the said Housing Unit at Lot,” the contract said.
The contract also included a clause that residents had to agree “to vacate and deliver up my/our temporary possession of the Housing Unit Lot No. ____ to the Government of Jamaica after Hurricane Matthew passes”.
Reginald Budhan, the then acting permanent secretary in the agriculture ministry, said the permission was never meant for the workers to live there but rather to “ply” between the new houses and where they had been living.
He said then that the keys had been issued following reports of vandalism and to help residents living in unsafe structures.
However, the situation has now been further complicated by unauthorised expansions, with many residents independently building extensions and additions to the structures.
kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com