No structures in Pine Basin removed, says ministry

The Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) has flatly refuted allegations that its employees have been uprooting housing materials and fruit trees on land occupied by a Rastafari family in the Pine Basin, St Michael.

In a release on Friday, the ministry revealed that they were clearing a watercourse directly behind the ministry’s headquarters as part of the Government’s flood mitigation programme over the last two weeks.

The press release said that it was necessary to remove “trees and debris” that were “obstructing the path of equipment” as they carried out the work from the ABC Highway behind the water authority headquarters, the Barbados Licensing Authority, behind the ministry’s headquarters and into the nearby playing field.

“The operator who has been working on the job stated he has been clearing heavy bush and debris from the watercourse, including old tyres, poly blue pipes and pieces of wood. He added there were trees in the watercourse which had to be removed as they were obstructing the path of the equipment,” the statement contended.

“The work is not fully completed as more heavy equipment is needed to remove some of the trees and debris.

“The operator observed a barricade that had been erected, which prevented access to the Ministry’s Prince Road depot. This structure was not removed. The operator stated he had to go around the structure to reach the depot,” the ministry added.

Earlier this week, Charles ‘Ijuijah’ Lashley, who claims he has been occupying the land for over 30 years, accused the MTW of bulldozing the materials that made up his home along with dozens of fruit trees.

Lashley, his son Ijuijah Sifahne, daughter Isartis Ibrie Sirine and their mother Kim Isartis Ibrie Jackman have also received support from St Michael East MP Trevor Prescod and numerous Rastafari groups.

Prescod, in particular, called for a direct explanation from Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Ian Gooding Edghill along with some “redress” for the family.

“Nobody over the years indicated that they were offended by this family’s presence and now all of a sudden a government that has taken a direction on enfranchisement and reparations comes into the bottom, totally disrespect the Rasta family, never engaged in any conversation, but send in a bulldozer to push down all the trees in here and disrupt the entire group,” Prescod contended.

“You can’t expect Prescod to be silent on it, and you can’t expect the Rastafari community [to be quiet]. Though they might be small, they represent a body of black Barbadians of a working-class nature,” the upset MP declared.

Numerous efforts to reach Prescod on Friday were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, MTW has underscored its commitment to flood mitigation through the cleaning and widening of watercourses and the construction of more than 25 detention ponds.

“The ministry encourages citizens not to place debris in watercourses as this has the potential to exacerbate flooding during heavy rainfall events. The ministry also categorically states that at no stage during the cleaning of the watercourse in question was any structure removed by any of the ministry’s equipment,” the ministry added. (KS)