BGYEA executive calls G.O.B. a bully

Firebrand grassroots activist and president of BGYEA, Nigel Petillo, is again up in arms with the Lands Department over the Harmonyville community near mile forty-one on the George Price Highway. Petillo says that the process of developing the area is continuously frustrated by government which has made it clear that it was BGYEA’s responsibility. But for some time now, the area has been invaded by squatters, who have been setting up shacks within the one hundred and thirty acres of land in the buffer zone of the community. Well on Thursday, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture issued a Cease and Desist Order to those persons unlawfully clearing and occupying the reserved land. It should have been music to the ears of BGYEA executives…but not so. That is because the release contained a statement which says that “Any activity within the Buffer Zone (Reserve) should only occur with permission from the Lands and Survey Department.” It means that any revenue sharing from the proceeds of an agricultural project within the buffer zone is not going to happen for BYGEA even though over forty thousand dollars has been invested into clearing the land. Petillo says that government is bullying Harmonyville and the grassroots organization.

Nigel Petillo, President, BGYEA

Nigel Petillo

“Dah bullying it’s a matter of bullying. The government see all kind of tractor and bulldozer and truck di go on out there and they don’t know what is talking place because they were not part of the discussion and they decide that they will stop it until they hear what will go on. The commissioner of lands department went on record stating that the infrastructure, the development of Harmonyville is the works of the management of Harmonyville, BGYEA meaning dah fi we responsibility; dehn noh wah do nothing fi we—dehn noh wah put no road, no light, no water, no nothing. They noh even plan to clean di buffer weh belong to the government but is managed by BGYEA. All the rights we have is that we wah clean that buffer, keep it maintained. Where you expect we fi get that money from fi clean that? It is your responsibility actually as the government; you fi clean the buffer. However, we realize that unu noh di do it, so we went a step further and found a way to maintain the buffer and at what I must call a must feasible way, investment. So we met with a business partner, and god sent, this thing done deh on the way. We’ve spent about forty thousand dollars in cleaning; just land clearing so far. We di hope to plan seeds next week. Yesterday, Lands Department sent their lawyer out there, one of their staff members informing my business associate that that can’t happen; disrespecting the chain of command, disrespecting BGYEA, the organization that manages Harmonyville. You were supposed to come to us and inform us of what’s taking place, then we go out there together if anything.  My business associate found it disturbing, want know weh di happen. So we gone to the commissioner, we were able to meet with him three-thirty yesterday evening and we informed him of our discontent with what’s taking place. he informed us that while we are managers of the buffer and we are expected to keep it clean, government is the owner. Mister Commissioner, who would play the role as the custodian of this, transfer a message to we stating that the government is not pleased with the activities taking place in the buffer. So I explained to the commissioner that we have no other choice but to find a way to keep this place maintained and beautify the community. We wah replace that wild bush with corn—noh flowers or palm tree. We wah put some corn weh wah make back money fi we and at the same time keep the buffer maintained, clean, beautify Harmonyville, the highway and country by extension and make you, and any other squatter or any other person weh want squat in that area find it hard because it is occupied, it is occupied by corn or something in there. Now why would the government stop wah initiative like that? We were thinking out of the box now. We were finding ways to create revenue in order to develop our community; we need roads, we need water. You guys di talk about all we need dah wah machete and a file. Yo need roads to access yo land, we need water fi water yo plants. Yo need wah developmental plan before yo jump into anything.”

Petillo says that the Commissioner of Lands is asking for a letter of request from BGYEA for the usage of buffer land.