News Source Reports : Tempers flared today in Friendship, East Bank Demerara, as Court Marshalls and police moved in to clear a parcel of land on the orders of the court, prompting confrontations with residents and farmers who say they have occupied the site for more than two decades.
The property, Rozel Di Leon Investments says, is company land purchased from Ellaine Adams and formally transferred to the company in April 2022. Acting on a court order, court marshalls accompanied workmen linked to the company as they dismantled small homes and other structures on the site.
Residents who remained on the land described the operation as heavy-handed and said they received little or no meaningful notice. Twenty-six-year-old Nigel Johnson told reporters he grew up on the land and was given just seven days to pack up. “This is unfair to us,” he said, describing a notice dropped at his gate and the swift enforcement that followed.
Other occupants said they had invested time and money improving the lots after being given permission to trade or build there, and expressed alarm about losing their livelihoods and homes. One man, who asked not to be named, said belongings were thrown out and doors and structures were being pulled down while he and others tried to prevent the demolition. “I got family to maintain off of this. I got children to send to school. How these people expect me to do that now?” he asked.
Residents said attempts to halt the action were under way, with counsel reportedly preparing an injunction to seek a stay of the eviction. They said tensions rose during the clearance, with allegations of aggressive behaviour between some occupants and those enforcing the court order.
Junior Rutherford, director of Rozel Di Leon Investments, defended the company’s actions, saying it lawfully purchased the two parcels from Ellaine Adams and that title to the properties was only formally transferred to the company in April 2022. Pointing to copies of the title documents, Rutherford said the company was simply taking possession of its property in accordance with the court direction and rejected suggestions that the company was taking advantage of long‑term occupants.
The dispute highlights the difficulties that can arise when longstanding informal occupation collides with formal title and court orders. Residents maintain they have lived and worked on the land for over 20 years and say they were not provided adequate arrangements for relocation or compensation.
The matter is expected to proceed through legal channels as interested parties pursue injunctions and other remedies. Local authorities and the company did not provide further comment by press time.
