More than 100 households in Kaneville have been given 14 days to vacate their homes, affecting more than 500 residents, including schoolchildren preparing to return to classes in just two weeks.
Residents say they have spent years building homes and establishing their lives in the community, with some claiming they were previously assured that they would be relocated to house lots before being required to leave.
Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed visited the community on Saturday to hear residents’ concerns and assess the situation. Residents said they are not opposed to relocating but want the Government to provide alternative house lots, reasonable relocation arrangements and sufficient time to move.
Indira Singh, a single mother who has lived in Kaneville for about six years, told Kiskadee Watch last night that she has applied twice for a house lot and was previously told that residents would be contacted when relocation arrangements were ready. She said that instead of being given a house lot and a relocation plan, residents are now being contacted by officials and told they must leave within 14 days.
“We don’t have a problem moving, but you just can’t come and move,” Singh said, explaining that residents have invested significant amounts of money to develop the land and build their homes.
Singh said she initially moved onto the area knowing it was considered a squatting community, but argued that many residents had limited options because of the high cost of housing and the difficulty of securing house lots. She said she had applied for a house lot while raising six children, two of whom are still minors. “We can’t take our children and go live on the streets when we have empty land that we’re not using,” Singh expressed.
According to residents, officials from the Ministry of Housing recently visited the area, recording names and marking houses before residents began receiving calls and letters instructing them to vacate. Singh said she had previously been told that residents would be shown where they would be relocated and informed of the cost of their new lots. She said residents are now anxious about what will happen if they are forced to leave before alternative accommodation is provided.
Another resident, 45-year-old greens vendor Cindy Daniels, said she has lived on the reserve for about nine years and has also been told repeatedly over the years that residents would eventually have to move.
Daniels said residents were previously promised assistance in finding alternative land but said they heard nothing further until the recent removal notices. “I am praying to get somewhere to move. I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have land and I cannot afford to pay rent,” Daniels said. She said her hope is simply to be allocated land so that she can relocate.
Mohamed noted that President Irfaan Ali was recently in Kaneville speaking about his new model village initiative. “Yet shortly afterwards, residents were blindsided with removal letters.” Residents have made it clear that if they are allocated house lots and given reasonable provisions and more time to relocate, they are willing to move, Mohamed noted.
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