After living?on rented land at Briar Hall, Christ Church for over 33 years, Carol Ifill has found herself “landlocked”.
Ifill, who was the first tenant to occupy the land in the tenantry, says she is forced to walk on a neighbour’s property in order to get to and from her home.
She charged that another neighbour has blocked her access path by planting trees and installing a fence and a gate across the road which she would have to travel.
“Last year the owner of the property in front of me put up fencing and now I?have to ask them for permission to walk across their property,” she said, pointing to the gate in front of her house.
“At night they lock their gate for security reasons and the only other road that I can use is a small road which the government built behind my house.”
Ifill explained that in order to access that road she has to use her backyard. “If I go through my back gate I would have to leave it open and I have to consider my own security.”
She said the landlord who rented her the land and who has since passed away, had always told her that her access path was the track to the right of her house.
“Several years ago my first house was destroyed by fire and when I was rebuilding the landlord told me not to build the new house in the direction which my other house was facing because my road was next to the house.”
She said she fell out with the neighbour with whom she is in dispute and since then, according to her, there have been attempts to stop her from using that access road.
“She planted an ackee tree through the road and she has all of this garbage blocking the path and covering my land mark,” Ifill said.
She confessed that the situation had resulted in both her and the neighbour having to call the police on several occasions.
Ifill said she had complained to her landlord about the situation but the problem had not been solved.
“I am a seamstress and when my customers come here to me it is a problem getting to my house. The ambulance and fire truck can’t get to me and I am very concerned about this,” she said.
While the neighbour was not at home when the WEEKEND NATION visited, landlord Sheila Jones, whose father had rented Ifill the land, disputed what her tenant said.
“She is totally wrong and I am taking her to court. I?have a lawyer and he sent her a letter,” Jones said in reference to an unrelated situation involving her and Ifill.
But when asked about the access road being blocked Jones said: “That is how the land run.”
