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Boston farmers stand to lose crops in land ownership dispute
Boston farmers stand to lose crops in land ownership dispute
'Give us more time'
BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, April 29, 2013
BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, April 29, 2013
A group of Portland farmers has until tomorrow to comply with a court order to remove approximately four acres of banana, plantain and pineapple from a plot of land in Boston, which they claimed to have been cultivating for the last three decades.
But, according to the farmers, it is impossible to uproot that many acres of budding plants, especially since a lot of the crops have just began to bear.
Charles Fletcher displays the judgement from the court giving him 30 days to vacate the land. (PHOTO: KARL MCLARTY)
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The land, which sits on the main road in Boston and overlooks the sea, is prime real estate. It is said to have been idle for as long as anyone can recall. That's the reason the farmers said they began farming it in the first place.
Charles Fletcher, one of those who was hauled before the court, said in the 35 years he has been working the land, no one has ever made a claim of ownership. Over time, he said, a total of 16 small farmers joined him, planting a variety of crash crops.
According to Fletcher, it was only in the middle of last year, when he was served with a subpoena to attend court, that he became aware of who the land owner was.
"When I go to the Port Antonio court I tell the judge I don't know who the land belong to and she say I have to go survey the land and find out, but I tell her I can't afford to do that," Fletcher told the Jamaica Observer North East.
Fletcher said although he got a lawyer to represent his interest in court, it did not help, as at the final hearing in March, the judge ordered him to vacate the land by the end of April.
The Observer North East obtained a copy of the court's judgment, which was delivered by Resident Magistrate Marjorie Moyston. It stated: "It is hereby ordered that judgement is for the plaintiff. Defendant to quit and deliver up possession of land by the 30th day of April, 2013."
Fletcher said he was one of three farmers who were served with subpoenas. However, he was the only one who received a judgement since the others did not make a court appearance.
One farmer, he explained, was able to immediately clear the land, as he did not have a lot of crops in the ground. The other farmer, who had cultivated a thriving plot of pineapple, according to Fletcher, did not go to court as the subpoena was issued in the wrong name.
But Fletcher said while he is not disputing ownership of the land, he believes he should be allowed more than 30 days in order for the huge volume of crops he has on the property to mature. Failing that, the farmer said, he should at least be compensated for the crops if they have to be destroyed to make way for the owner to occupy the land.
"Look at the quality plantain here. Where me going to put dem in one month time?" he said, pointing to the lush crop.
"I just can't afford for this amount of plantain and bananas to go down like that because Hurricane Sandy did mash dem down and them just coming up back and just start shoot," he continued.
His position is being supported by Richard Maragh, first vice president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society Portland division, who is also appealing to the relevant authorities to grant Fletcher some more time on the land.
Maragh said he is not objecting to the eviction, since the property does not belong to Fletcher, however he believes that after 35 years of farming the land a little more leniency can be shown.
Maragh said Fletcher would need a minimum of one year for the plantain and banana crop to mature, during which time he could begin relocation of the young suckers."
"Cutting them down now wouldn't help as we are currently short of bananas and plantains Jamaica because of Hurricane Sandy and so the market he is supplying is looking forward to getting them," Maragh told the Observer North East.
Meanwhile Fletcher said many farmers like himself have been unable to locate suitable farmlands to ply the only trade at their disposal and that they did not knowingly or deliberately capture someone else's land.
"When we come here in the 70s dem call up here 'logwood walk' because it was all in woodland and it is us who help to bring the land to where it is," he said.
One resident who identified himself as Spencer said the farmers should not take the court's decision lying down as ownership of the land has never been proven.
"We need to see a title for the land because we don't know if it is owned by who dem say own it," he told the Observer North East.
Another resident said they had been of the belief that the land belonged to the community as it adjoins a community centre.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2Rqt1vOIe
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