Govt to provide low-income homes for squatters

The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is currently engaging financial agencies, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to secure funding for low-cost housing in order to assist persons squatting on Government reserves. Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Adams-Patterson, has said the intention is to improve conditions under which the people live. Specific emphasis, she said, will be placed on Sophia and East and West Ruimveldt in Georgetown.
“It makes no sense (for) you (to) remove a squatter and give them a piece of land. They are going to move the very shack they’re (now) living (in) to that location … You are just transferring a shantytown from one area to the next, and that is not what this Government wants for our people… So my belief is that we must be able to have some low-cost houses built – whether what form we use, self-help or others – we build the house and then we relocate that squatter,” Minister Patterson was quoted as saying in a Government Information Agency (GINA) report. It is the view of the CH&PA that the people’s standard of living must be raised, and people must be provided with all the necessary amenities, in keeping with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ensuring access to safe and affordable housing, Minister Adams-Patterson explained.
From data collected, the CH&PA is looking at the relocation of close to 12,000 persons. These include people from East and West Ruimveldt, Sophia, and Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara. However, this figure accounts for only those persons who have been squatting for a certain number of years, not those who continue to build on squatting areas or those who rebuild on areas previous cleared of squatters.
Minister Adams-Patterson made it clear that those persons who are not on the CH&PA inventory will be served notice to dismantle and remove.  “Since we’ve been saying that we will be relocating those persons, there has been a mad rush for squatting, and overnight some shacks are being erected. (But if) you are not on the inventory, you will be served contravention notice (which instructs you) to dismantle; and if you don’t (dismantle), we will dismantle you,” the Minister has warned. Industry, East Coast Demerara, is one of the areas identified to have those houses built, because it is in close proximity to Sophia and East and West Ruimveldt, Minister Adams-Patterson explained.
She said it is the intention of the CH&PA to have this project included in its 2018 budget in December, so that works can begin early next year. Whilst the CH&PA has been working to relocate persons living in zero-tolerance areas, (on government reserves) the authority has also been working to regularise a number of areas, including Angoy’s Avenue (Cow Dam) which is the largest squatter settlement in Region Six, and has approximately 1,010 lots.