People should not expect to occupy land they did not pay for with the belief that they will eventually own it. But that is exactly what they do in The Bahamas, feeling that their long years of tenure on the land entitle them to claim it as their own.

And this is what is now happening in Fire Trail Road, where the government is constructing a low cost housing subdivision, and where some people have resided for more than 30 years, on government property, and are now being asked to move, in order for the Ministry of Housing to continue with its programme in that community.

Earlier in the year the squatters were told by former Housing Minister Shane Gibson of the government's intention to develop a subdivision on the land and were given a time frame to be off the land. They did not take heed and have brought the construction process to a stand still.

That is unfortunate in more ways than one, because many people who are hoping to be occupying new homes soon, will have to wait a little longer. Also, because it is now the election season, there will be politicians making promises that in all probability, they will be unable to deliver.

There will be opposition candidates who will lambaste the government, calling them insensitive and uncaring for turning the people out of the land, disregarding the fact that they are squatting and have been given a reasonable length of time to find other accommodations.

This puts the government minister in a bind as he is cognizant of the number of potential votes that can be affected and he is also obligated to carry out the mandate of his office. Minister Neville Wisdom told The Guardian this week:

"If I could get past this point, I can have 120 homes completed for Christmas. We have over 5,000 Bahamians waiting for homes; we can't hold up a whole subdivision because people want to squat after you have given them alternatives and offered them assistance."

The minister is absolutely right and no project should be allowed to founder because people refuse to abide by the rules and would seek to have everything their way, regardless to how it might inconvenience others and consequently cost the authorities more than is necessary.

The people living on the Crown Land in Fire Trail Road knew that they do not own the property; they knew that before they built their houses, but they went ahead anyway. And it is the same with government property throughout the country, where people squat and construct illegal buildings, daring the authorities to take action against them.

However, there should be no dispute in evicting the squatters from government property, as they have no permission to be there, the buildings are illegal and they have not been constructed to any kind of code. They could, as was said of the squalid shacks in Abaco, become death traps in the event of a violent storm or a serious fire.

There should be no argument about whether they go or stay. After the deadline is past for the houses to be vacated, the government must do what has to be done.