Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WALKER
WESTERN BUREAU:
IRATE RESIDENTS of Brighton, Westmoreland verbally abused Danville Walker, chief executive officer for the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), yesterday as a planned tour of the site of new houses in that community by officials from the ONR soured into a boisterous, tense affair.
The residents' main bone of contention is that the government has opted to put 25 of the service lots for sale on the open market without giving them a chance to acquire the lots first.
One irate resident, 46-year-old Rasta Myrie said that the community chose the site for its relocation and that the community will not stand idly by and let "strangers" take over. "We think seh we are going to relocate," said Ms. Myrie. "We just get sudden news last week say them sell out the lots to Portmore, Spanish Town and Montego Bay people. We are not having any strangers down here! Everybody deh whisper it but I am not whispering."
SOLDIERS
Under the watchful eyes of Venezuelan soldiers, at least 30 residents began to protest the perceived slight, and a few of them even pointed their fingers in Mr. Walker's face in a threatening manner. However, Mr. Walker remained calm and unruffled in the face of the verbal tirade.
"I do not think I have ever had a meeting with a community without such a display. It is par for the course for me. I am not intimidated in these situations,," Mr. Walker said.
"If you are straight with people and tell them upfront then you can expect these things sometimes. They want first dibs on any land down there along with special programmes to facilitate their purchase and that is out of my hands. However, I plan to meet with Wykeham McNeill, the Member of Parliament, to see if something can be worked out for them," Mr. Walker said.
