HEAD of the Chaguaramas Land Owners’ Committee, Augustin Noel, was granted $1,000 bail yesterday, after he appeared before Port of Spain Magistrate Christine Charles charged with trespassing.

Noel, who was arrested on Saturday after he attempted to have a ’cook up’ opposite the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, was initially placed on $500 bail at the Carenage Police Station.

Noel, 72, along with several members of his group, intended to stage a ’mass invasion’ into various areas in Chaguaramas on Saturday, in a bid to signal to the Government that they were intent on rightfully reclaiming lands they claimed were stolen from them by the State.

It was reported that the group began gathering at the side of the Aluminium Company of America’s (ALCOA) facility in Chaguaramas, but was met with resistance from the police and officers attached to the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA).

According to reports, officers from the CDA asked the group to leave, but Noel told them that his pot of ’oil down’ was hot and told the police he saw no reason why he should leave.

Charles, presiding in the Second Magistrate’s Court, ordered Noel to reappear in court on September 9.