Wickedness to the highest order.
This was how some angry Tobago residents on Thursday described the attempted eviction of two families in Crompston Trace Extension, off Silk Cotton Trace, Bon Accord.
This is one of the communities to be acquired for the $1.2 billion ANR Robinson airport expansion project.
Most of the families in Crompston Trace and its environs have already settled with the State and agreed to be relocated to either the Cove or Shirvan estates.
The government had secured a loan of some $300 million to pay residents for the properties which were to be acquired.
National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco) is the project manager for the airport expansion project and China Railway Construction Ltd is the main contractor.
[caption id="attachment_969335" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tyrell Percy (black jersey) points in dismay as his family's belongs are removed from their home at Crompston Trace, Storebay Local Road, Bon Accord, Tobago, on Thursday. - David Reid[/caption]
There were some heated moments as residents clashed with police and several of the workers from the construction company while the evictions were carried out.
Most of the THA secretaries and assemblymen, including Canaan/Bon Accord representative Joel Sampson, were also on hand to support the residents.
But after several hours of intense confrontation between police, residents and Chinese workers, the families were allowed to stay in their homes temporarily until the matter is fully ventilated in the courts.
Later, a release from the Office of the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly said the residents and their attorney had obtained an emergency court hearing later Thursday at which they planned to file an injunction against the eviction.
The drama unfolded around 7 am when a group of Chinese workers and other people entered the homes of Tyrell Percy and another family and began removing appliances and other items, which were placed on the side of the road.
The action elicited a heated response from residents, some of whom were relatives of those being evicted.
At one point, community activist Leroy George, a former candidate for the Innovative Democratic Alliance, tried to put the families' belongings back into their homes, but was prevented from doing so.
One irate resident said, “This thing has been badly handled from day one. I don’t know what they want people to do. Where they want people to live?”
Another angry resident shouted, “This is real wickedness to the highest order, boy. People really eh have no compassion again.”
One woman, who has been at the forefront of the airport relocation issue, complained about the way it was being done.
“We are willing to move, you know, but allow people to put the right system in place so that we could move out in a human manner. That is all we have been asking for,” she said
“When we seek to communicate with Nidco, they ignore us. From day one they act as though is dogs they dealing with. When you communicate with them, they do
