Yesterday, while having some bush cleared, I ended up having an interesting conversation with someone on my land in the presence of two police constables from the South Oropouche Police Station. They've got cows eating the grass, and I'm trying to get the area cleared up so I asked them to move the cows - they agreed. I then told them that once the ponds are excavated - repaired - that they wouldn't be allowed to tether their animals there. The cows destroy the ponds, and after all - they aren't my cows. But cows eating grass are not a major concern for me, so I let it lay - and the ponds need to be excavated, so after excavation they will need to be maintained. Believe it or not, there is a pond lurking in the picture to the left.

This created a bit of a conversation that... seems a bit ludicrous on first pass. This is all paraphrased from memory.

'That is not your pond'
'Yes it is. I have a deed.'
'You haven't shown me your deed'
'Come up, I have it with me.'

He comes up the hill. I show him the deed.

'This is a temporary deed!'
'No, it is an official deed registered at the Red House.'
'No, this is a temporary deed.'
'Ok, so you say it is a temporary deed. But whether you believe it is temporary or not, it is still a deed.'
'Yes.'
'Good, so this is my land.'
'Yes.'
'So the ponds are mine.'
'No. Did you dig the pond?'
'No, did you?'
'No, my father dug that pond.' (points at a pond)
'But the pond is on my land. So the pond is mine.'
'No, it is not your pond. You didn't dig it.'
'Fair enough. When I excavate it, it will be my pond. Right?'
Silence.

The point here is that, sometime about 40 years ago, this fellow's father had dug a pond on what is now my land - formerly my grandmother's land. And so he believed it - the pond - belonged to him. Interested, I played with the idea some more.

'Well, OK, you can have the pond. Please take it with you.'
'...what?'
'Yes, I do not want your pond and would appreciate it if you got it off my land.'
'You can't take land with you when you go'
'But we're talking about the pond you say is yours.'
'Where will I tie my cows?'
'I don't know. Where will you tie your cows?'
'You tell me.'
'They are not my cows. I cannot tell you where to tie them. But don't you have land over there?' (pointing)
'Yes, but I have other cows there.'
'It sounds like you have a problem.'
'So where should I tie my cows?'
'If they were my cows, I would find a place to tie them. But they are not my cows, unless you want to give them to me. Tie your cows elsewhere.'

At this point, he becomes aggravated and heated.

'The cows aren't doing anything to you. They're just dumb animals.'
'The cows are destroying the banks to the ponds. They will have to leave when the ponds are excavated.'
'We'll have to go to court.'
'OK, we'll go to court. But now, I'm thinking you should get all of your cows off of my land.'
I start chopping down some brush with a cutlass, he starts to say something...
'Talk done.'

A few minutes pass, with him pleading the case for dumb animals.

'OK, I'll tell you what. I'll let your cows on my property for now if you agree that once the ponds are excavated that the cows will not be permitted here.'

A long pause.

'OK'.

'OK. Have a good day.'

Now, the entire conversation, in reality, took an hour and a half and ended the same way it started- with the understanding that the cows could not be near the ponds after they are fixed. It only took me one and a half hours to get that across, and required me to threaten disallowing the cows in entirety.

And hours later, someone came along - someone I expected - and demanded we stop cutting the grass on 'their' land. There's no rental agreement, and the area was entirely grass - we didn't touch anything even remotely resembling a crop. We've been in discussion for quite some time, and he's an elderly fellow so I've been patient - but I have things to do. And the area being cleared was only brush. Out of nowhere, he started claiming he 'has' 6 acres of land - but there is no demonstrated land usage. No demonstrable tenancy. He just somehow magically started claiming 6 acres of land.

He said, "I'm going to plough the land."
I told him, "I'm telling you, as the owner of the land with two police constables present, that you are not permitted to plough on this land, or do anything related to agriculture on my land anymore."

I lay you odds that he'll plough, and we'll end up in court.

This is land ownership in Trinidad and Tobago. The police can't be involved in trespass of this sort because it revolves around 'Civil Law'.

There isn't much civil about it, I suppose. These are just two stories of many - some things I cannot write of right now, for what should be obvious reasons. But I am taking notes.

The pond, though... well, that was worth writing about.

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