Five families are pleading with the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), as well as the MP for Port of Spain South Keith Scotland, to allow them to continue occupying apartments at Old St Joseph Road, Piccadilly.

The families were evicted on April 21, for illegally occupying the apartments.

While the families say they are aware they are illegally occupying the space, they said they wrote several letters asking to become the legal occupants of the apartments as they were willing to pay the required rent.

The families are composed of 18 people, including 10 children as young as months old.

A press release from the corporation said it began the eviction of 12 illegal occupants from buildings 6, 7 and 8 with the police’s support.

It added that notices of eviction were sent to the “unauthorised occupants informing them of their unlawful occupancy of the premises.

“However, these occupants disregarded the notice and continued to occupy the property.”

The release further said, “Again, on April 11, 2023, the HDC dispatched formal notices to both legal residents and unlawful occupants of buildings 6, 7, and 8, situated on St Joseph Road, Piccadilly, apprising them of the corporation's decisive intentions to initiate eviction procedures.

“In an effort to provide residents with safe and adequate housing, the corporation determined that the affected units were uninhabitable following severe flooding in 2010. The HDC recognises that some of these illegal occupants may have fallen on hard times and resorted to illegally occupying the premises.

"Nonetheless, the HDC is duty-bound to comply with the law and guarantee the security and peaceful living conditions of the lawful occupants within their community.”

The families contend, however, since former Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner had a retaining wall built at the property there have been no issues with flooding.

One of the occupants Marisha Juman, who spoke on behalf of herself, husband Kern Joseph and the other families, said she lost her job because of the pandemic and this made things difficult for her family.

Juman has been living at the apartment for a year, but lived in the community for 15 years. Both her and her husband shared living spaces with other family members.

Juman and Joseph said, however, as their family grows sharing a two-bedroom space with another family is difficult. The family said they applied for Government housing for over 14 years.

Joseph was living with his sister and has been living at the community for his entire 36 years.

“Things kind of tough for parents. The kind of rent we have to pay out there we can’t pay that no more. These apartments are liveable apartments and if it was not liveable, the whole building would have had to be demolished as this is the foundation,” Juman said.

Juman said the property was severely flooded in 2010 and that was when Warner had the retaining wall built.

She said people were relocated because of the flood.

Juman said the families decided to enter and simultaneously w