SAT MAHARAJ does not want certain lots to be purchased by tenants occupying his land, said 35-year-old Vijay Pakhoo.

Pakhoo, who has resided on the land since birth, claims that his late grandmother had made attempts to purchase the land but was humiliated, cursed and chased out of an office belonging to someone who was at the time helping the Maharaj family.

The land under question, which two families now occupy, had belonged to the Sagan Maharaj estate but was divided among East Indian families.

The land is now said to belong to Sat Maharaj who married into the family.

Pakhoo hired a lawyer to look into the ownership since he, his mother and grandmother had “an agreement to buy”.

“My lawyer tried on numerous occasions to get in touch with Sat Maharaj but he does not answer any telephone calls or letters.

“This whole thing is ridiculous.

“I do not want to live like the elder people on the land.

“I want to make sure that there is something to show that this is my land.”

Pakhoo said he tirelessly conveyed to Maharaj a willingness to pay. But in the window of opportunity to do so he was requested an exorbitant $200,000 for what measures up to less than a lot of land.

“No way at all am I going to pay that kind of money.

“Sat is greedy and he is doing something weird.

“I have a paper that says my grandparents were living on this property.”

He admitted, though, that Maharaj has told him through his lawyers that the value of land has appreciated over the years.

However, Pakhoo argued that the ravine next to his house has been causing the land to erode every time it rained.

Thirty five-year-old VIJAY PAKHOO wants to
know who is the rightful owner of the land
he now occupies.

The ravine directly behind both houses.

The wall built by Annie to keep the ravine from
eroding the land around her house.

The property where Annie and her family reside
is costing her $100,000.

“My house is less than 15 feet away from the ravine.

“I was told that when you are buying land a surveyor is supposed to measure the land 15 feet away.

“But my house is very close to it.”

Pakhoo, who lives in the small house with common-law wife, Sandra Seetahal and two teenaged sons, said that a surveyor had indeed come to his abode to measure the property.

“They told me that this piece of land is nowhere on the Sagan Maharaj estate so they could not survey the land.

“Isn’t that strange?” he questioned.

Fed-up as he is of the constant run-around, he stated that he would have to wait on his lawyer who gave him the assurance that he cannot be evicted from the land.

“If Sat could make an arrangement with us, we would be willing to pay some money every month until we have completed paying for the land.
“I just do not want to leave it up for grabs.”
Pakhoo’s neighbour identified only as Annie said, however, her family was given the option to purchase the land but views the cost as unreasonable.

She said she was told that she would have to pay $60 per square feet ($100,000 in all) and viewed this as unreasonable.

“I have stopped doing any sort of reconstruction on my place till I know what is happening.

“I am not going to fight anybody over land but now that the Christmas season is over we could decide what we are going to do.”

The ravine also encroaches on the land occupied by her.

“We have made complaints to the Ministry of Works and Transport about it but no one came to investigate.

“I am not going to pay any money until they fix the ravine.”

Annie said she even built a wall to prevent erosion and recalled that during the dry season the ravine emits a very disgusting and unbearable smell.

Sat Maharaj was out of the country and could not be contacted up to Press time.