Ryan Adamant About Trespassing Issue

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Wednesday, 25 April 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Prominent local businessman George Ryan is stressing his right to deny residents of the Cedar Valley community the use of a portion of unoccupied land.

A resident concerned about the situation described Ryan’s move to “cut a ditch” to separate the public area from his private lands as a “vigilante style” and “high-handed deed.”

“There is an interesting development going on up in the Cedar Valley community," the resident said. "If you turn on the road labelled Wild Orchid Drive and follow it to the end, you will see prominent businessman George Ryan vigilante-style cutting a ditch across a road leading to at least eight homes, which he claims passes over lands that he owns."

He also pointed out that some of the homes and residents being affected have been using this access point for almost 15 years.

“APUA has erected posts along this road, and PWD has cut and paved this road with marl,” the resident said. “There is an 82-year-old lady who lives in one of these homes. God forbid if there is a fire or need for ambulance to come to these homes."

But Ryan is adamant that his decision not to allow people to drive on his land was just, and said he had been in talks with the residents in that area for more than a year-and-a-half.

Former parliamentary representative of St John's Rural East Dr Errol Cort is also aware of the situation, Ryan said.

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He noted that he has also been in talks with the senator about the matter, as recently as Monday.

“Their road to their houses is clearly defined," Ryan said. "And they are not supposed to be walking on my land. My land is my land. Nobody has any right to be cutting road through my land. I have been trying to get them to work with me for quite a while. I even spent $5,000 clearing up the road that they are supposed to use.”

He said the road is clearly named, and since he bought his land from the state, no one has the right to it but him. If a portion of it is wanted for road purposes, he said it could be purchased back from him for that purpose, but until that happens, he will not tolerate trespassing.

Ryan noted that the people in the area are accessing their homes from the wrong end, and if they were to use the other end, they would find that his land is not in any way hindering access to their homes.

On Tuesday morning, Dr Cort, Development Control Authority inspector Kareem Mack, and the Public Works Department (PWD) visited the site. It was reaffirmed that the land belongs to Ryan, and he has all right to take the action that he did to keep people off it.

Ryan said he hopes the confirmation from the authorities, in the presence of the residents, would bring closure to the matter.

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