Squatter settlement bursting at the seams in Barbados

Officials in the Eastern Caribbean state of Barbados are concerned with the growth of a squatter sttlement in a section of the country known as Rock Hall in St Philip.

The squatter settlement, which is located on lands which were a former dump site close to the Grantley Adams Airport, is reportedly bursting at the seams and being taken over by persons who are not Barbadian citizens.

A report in the Barbados Nation cited the concerns of Barbadians who say the outsiders are commandeering the  settlement, stealing building materials and buying plots of land on which they build houses and rent to persons desperate for housing.

The outsiders are said to be from Jamaica, Guyana and St Vincent. They are said to make up the majority of the residents of the informal settlement.

One resident complained that a woman had bought ten plots of land and had used strong-arm tactics to discourage persons from building homes or face the prospect of the structures being torched if they defied her,

Other longtime residents of Rock Hall have sold their property and moved out is fear.

The Barbadian Government had cleared the site in 2014 but squatters have returned and settled on or captured every available square foot.