Cane View/Mocha residents move to Court over demolished homes

Feb 22, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – Cane View/Mocha residents whose homes were demolished by the government have instructed their lawyers to start legal proceedings after government failed to signal interest in mediation.

Lawyers for the affected residents had set February 15 as the deadline for the government to respond to their request for mediation.

Candacie Williams looks at the land where the only place she called home for all her life, once stood.

That deadline expired without any response from the government. “We have strengthened capacity for aggressive representation and have started deploying our litigation and conflict resolution strategies” said New York based Attorney-at-Law, Dr. Vivian Williams who along with Attorney Lyndon Amsterdam wrote the government on February 8, 2023.

After being briefed of the unresponsiveness of the government, the residents who have lost their homes and personal property, expressed disappointment at government’s unwillingness to engage on the matter and advised that the matter engaged the court of law.

The legal team was boosted over the weekend with the addition of Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd.

The number of residents who have retained the lawyers have now grown to nine. In a joint interview last week, Williams and Amsterdam stressed the value of conflict resolution to society and expressed the hope that the government would grasp the opportunity to engage in sense making.

The lawyers stressed that the residents have very strong claims against the government. However, they wanted to give the government an opportunity to find common ground with the aggrieved residents before heading to court.

• Attorney Lyndon Amsterdam, Attorney-at-Law, Cane View/Mocha, Dr. Vivian Williams, Government