Like the rest of Guyana, Timehri North residents have made preparations for the Christmas holidays notwithstanding the eventuality of their homes being bulldozed by the Public Works Ministry. These residents have extended their properties and renovated and painted them for the holidays. They seem ready to defend their investments if the need arises.With the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s (CJIA) facilities, residents have been ordered to remove from the airport environment as they were labeled as squatters on the facility’s property.But with no proper proposal on a relocation plan for the community, residents say they cannot remain on “pause” as “life goes on.” The residents are adamant that their social and family life must continue.This sand covered road was once asphalt coated,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, but this is just one of the issues that will not deter this resident seen painting for the seasonWhile some residents expressed concern over the next move the Public Works Ministry will make, they say that they have received no word from the government lately.They are unclear as to what the future holds in that regard.The Ministry has on more than one occasion bulldozed homes within the community, destroying new but incomplete structures, old homes and even foundations. It was stated at the time that no more homes were to be built, no extensions were to be done and the semi-finished buildings destroyed to prevent the completion of properties.However, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Timehri North Community Development Council (TNCDC), Sherlander Daniels, told Kaieteur News yesterday that residents are going about their business, although the thoughts of the Ministry’s threats are still very fresh in their minds.Daniels related that residents are going about with the Christmas preparations; extending, painting and making other investments in their properties.She explained that the residents are not just catering for the holidays but they are living, “because lives cannot be brought to a standstill because of the government.”The PRO said that the government has refused to meet with the community to iron out the issues which has primarily been their fault.Timehri North residents are being regarded as squatters, but according to them, it was this very government that had removed them from the now regularized Timehri Base Road in the early 90s, saying that the area would have been for farming purposes only. A great number of those residents were said to have moved to Timehri North where a small amount of persons were already resding aand were engaged in subsistence farming.Over time, the community grew and under this same People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government Timehri North residents were told to get their acts together to accommodate the regularization of the community. It was recalled that some time in 1997, Philomena Sahoye-Shury, National Director of Community Development Councils,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, told the community to apply for water, electricity and other facilities as the government was working to facilitate the regularization.Excited and optimistic,NFL Jerseys China, the residents did so and to date, the community is lavished with all those amenities including landline telephone service.However, the government’s offer never materialized. Now the Timehri North community is being chastised; it is slated for destruction, residents say. The PRO continued that the residents take the Minister’s refusal to meet with them as a negative sign. Daniels reminded that after demanding an audience with the Public Works Minister Robeson Benn and by extension the government, the authorities chose the persons they wanted to speak with; some of whom are alleged to have accepted small cash amounts to remove.Daniels said that Timehri North residents have no problem with removing from the community, but the government must have a reasonable package for the residents. Daniels said the government has never engaged the community with information on an environmental assessment impact study which would encompass the affects of the project on the community.She said there has been no real involvement of the Ministry of Housing if the government indeed seeks to relocate residents with minimal impact on their lives.“The government has never addressed the magnitude of the interference on the family aspect of this issue,” Daniels said. “These are people’s lives and they are very much attached to the social fabric of things. It’s not like a bag of stone that you can remove from one place to another,” she urged.When persons are ripped from their environment they are ripped from that social fabric, she reiterated. The government needs to properly address this issue before and even after they would have removed residents, the PRO