'I have nowhere to go'
over 3 years in Jamaica Observer
LINSTEAD, St Catherine - Facing the threat of slipping into homelessness with her family once again, Natalie Hutchinson is asking for more time to vacate the plot of land that she is said to be occupying illegally in Linstead.The property is owned by National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC), which is a public entity."If dem nuh give mi more time, anything dem want duh, dem dweet," Hutchinson fumed while gripping a copy of the notice that NROCC served on October 2, giving her family 30 days to pack and leave."I don't have nowhere to go in 30 days," she told the Jamaica Observer. "Mi nuh have nuh money fi buy nuh land; mi nuh have nuh money fi lease nuh land because a whole heap a pickney mi haffi feed an mi nuh inna nuh job."Her family occupies two of three wooden houses on which eviction notices were posted.The largest of the houses, which is of particular of concern, was built for Hutchinson and her eight underage children a few days ago by a Trinidadian church leader living in the United States.The church leader, Rebecca Stewart, claimed that before she built the house she got verbal permission from a man living on the property. That man is now among the people pondering their fate after being hit with eviction notices.Hutchinson does not support the claim that the construction of her new house on a "delicate slope" that forms part of Highway 2000 may eventually lead to erosion of the highway. And she is not convinced that vehicles may careen off the highway and crash into her house - possibly crushing her family."Nuh vehicle nah run off the highway; dem just don't want mi live here," she insisted.Before being gifted with the house, Hutchinson and her children were living on the property with her adult son Swayne Sullivan, whose tiny dwelling has not been spared the eviction drive.Hutchinson told the Observer that, while living with her adult son, she and her children spent most nights in two chicken coops on the property because they could not all fit in the room.She is afraid that if she is evicted and ends up living on the streets, her underaged children may be placed in State care - although she thinks it would be difficult for the authorities to literally catch the minors."Dem pickney yah nah guh anyweh," Hutchinson said. "A mus night dem would have to come and tek dem outta the house. Dem yah pickney prefer fi run inna bush an hide."Hutchinson added that people have tried to adopt her children on numerous occasions, but the minors decided to stay put.She also made it clear that, although she is in need of a parcel of land, she would not accept one outside Linstead where she fends for her family by helping vendors sell ground provisions whenever she can.Councillor Herbert Garriques (People's National Party, Linstead Division) said numerous people have helped Hutchinson and the children, but the mother sometimes shuns the help. He added that, at one point, Food For the Poor was on the verge of building a house for Hutchinson on her family's property in Deeside, just outside the town of Linstead. According to Garriques, Hutchinson turned down the offer, stating that she does not want to live "in any bush".However, Hutchinson denied being offered a Food For the Poor house. She also emphatically stated that she had no legal claim to her family's property in Deeside.The father of her underaged children lives a stone's throw from where the eviction notices were served. It is said that he is not in a position to offer any significant assistance.Hutchinson's 21-year-old son, Sullivan, who took his mother and siblings onto NROCC's property, told the Observer that he gives a helping hand whenever he can.He joined the appeal for NROCC to give him, as well as his mother, more time to relocate."I really want to ask them for more time to look into the situation. Wi nuh have anywhere fi go in 30 days. Mi a ask if dem could give little more time till wi get somewhere. Wi willing fi move," he said.Sullivan added that he had felt somewhat relieved because, since the new house was built, his mother and young siblings were happy.The children, he said, had been spending more time in their new house and less time roaming the streets of Linstead.With face-to-face classes now on hold because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the children were expected to be accessing online classes, but they have never done so because they have no tablets and no access to the Internet.The likelihood of changing that reality will become more distant if the family ends up without a place to live."Mi feel bad about the situation right now," Sullivan told the Observer. "Mi mother, brothers, and sisters were happy since dem get the new house, but after wi get the notice, everything just shake up again."