A property owner in Portland is calling for the National Water Commission (NWC) to compensate him for destruction to his land. It is alleged that the commission trespassed on his property, laid pipes from a spring that runs on the land without gaining permission from the owner of the title.
The property located in Stony Hill, Boundbrook Portland has resulted in legal action being taken against the National Water Commission. Mr. Orad Mcquick says he had initially signed an agreement with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and does not understand how the NWC gained access to his property.
“I never knew that it was handed over to water commission without my knowledge and I tried to make contact with water commission to let me know what is the way forward because I never signed a contract with them.”
He is not against the use of his land for the supply of water to the community. He, however, notes that this must be done on acceptable terms and through a contractual agreement with the NWC.
“I wrote to them and they said I should give them one month to investigate and it going over three months and they don’t reply,” said Mr. Mcquick. “I tried to make contact and I don’t get any word from them and they continue to build a new construction without my knowledge. Nobody contacts me, nobody said anything to me about it.”
The Mcquick family says the delay in response from the NWC will lead to further legal action. He is now appealing to the NWC to formulate a contractual agreement, compensate for the destruction of a plantain farm, for the harvest and use of bamboo trees and compensation for trespass from April 2019 until the matter is settled. CVM LIVE contacted the National Water Commission (NWC) with regard to this matter but has yet received a response.
