THE OBJECTION LODGED against the building of the Hyatt Hotel and various other objections re: building, access, eviction, loss of title deeds and so on seem to suggest that there is need for a court to deal with these matters as the legal system is slow at best, and these types of matters seem to take extra long to get resolved.
At the micro level there seems to be conflict daily between landowners, tenants, neighbours and so on, and as the island gets more crowded and land gets more difficult to acquire, more conflict is to be expected.
I just learned from a friend of mine that she was getting some land cleared and the worker, unknown to her, arranged for an extra worker and transportation for several palms she knew nothing about and which she is not equipped to care for as she does not live on the site, having no arrangement for watering.
She reminded him of her emphatic warning not to undertake any plans without discussing them with her particularly as she has ongoing major expenses. He insisted that he would first just bring a small one for her to see.
She gave him a choice of returning the plants to the supplier, letting the plants die and still having to pay for them, or planting them and undertaking
to care for them and receive payment from her over a period of time.
Without knowing the circumstances, an eavesdropping neighbour was belligerent and told the worker, among other things, that my friend was a nasty, wicked person who should not live in the area and who should have the land taken away and made into a park for the residents.
He also contacted the supplier of the palms and said that the worker and the supplier were being exploited. There is more, but I am just sharing this to show the sort of confrontational activity which some people undertake in order to control who lives where and who does what, and why there is diminishing community spirit.
– PHYLLIS NEWTON