317 EBD sea defence squatters to be relocated within 6 months

…as 784 squatters regularised in 2022

With 784 squatters having been regularised in 2022, the Government is continuing its efforts to get squatters illegally occupying Government reserves into their own legally obtained homes by engaging squatters on the sea defence reserve along the East Bank of Demerara.

These squatters reside at Little Diamond, Great Diamond, Grove, Herstelling Sea Dam, Farm Sea Dam and Covent Garden in 317 structures, including 57 occupied by Venezuelan immigrants. According to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), they will all be relocated within six months.
Addressing the issue, the Central Housing and Planning Authority on Wednesday said that, in keeping with a commitment made by President Dr Irfaan Ali, informal settlers residing along drainage and sea defence reserves on the East Bank of Demerara were engaged on relocation by the Housing and Water Ministry and the Public Works Ministry’s Sea and River Defence Board on Wednesday.
“The reserves, which fall under the purview of the Ministry of Public Works, are regarded as ‘zero-tolerance’ areas, and are therefore unsuitable for housing development. Continuous occupation will impede drainage works, which can result in flooding and also affect access to critical areas,” CH&PA said, adding that squatters were also able to register for the house lots and housing units during Wednesday’s exercise.

Housing Minister Collin Croal has made it clear that the relocation process should be completed within the next six months. The Minister also emphasised that Government’s response to squatting is not based on race or politics, but rather assessments carried out by the Ministry and other agencies to determine whether regularisation or relocation is the best option.
The squatters will get four options under the relocation and resettlement programme. These include 1) being provided with an existing turn-key housing unit ready to move in, 2) access to an area at Great Diamond with the necessary infrastructure works already earmarked for persons desirous of building homes, 3) allocations at other schemes and 4) the Venezuelan immigrants will be assisted with building through the President Ali-led Men on Mission (MOM) initiative.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CHPA, Sherwyn Greaves, explained that each household will be provided with the necessary assistance in order for them to relocate to wholesome housing schemes.

Regularised
The Housing and Water Ministry has been on a trend of regularising squatters. According to Minister within that Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, the Ministry has been able to regularise seven new squatter settlements last year.
Rodrigues said recently that, out of the 784 squatters they were able to regularise in these areas, 281 of them were issued land titles. The Minister further pointed out that strict procedures were followed during the relocation process, to ensure that those involved are engaged and given adequate time to relocate with the assistance of the Government.
“If you multiply that by four persons per household, we’re talking about over 3,000 people who have benefitted from these squatter settlements that have been regularised in 2022,” the Minister said. “We don’t just give them a land and say, ‘You have to move,’ and leave them on their own. We have a whole department at the Ministry called the Community Development Department that has a specific unit that deals with regularisation,” she added.
Since September of last year, Minister Croal had said that no new squatting areas would be recognised by the Housing and Water Ministry, as efforts move apace to issue titles for some of the current areas where this is an issue.
The Housing Minister had said that efforts to distribute titles continue even as the Ministry continues to allocate house lots. Pursuing a robust housing campaign, he had said, would ensure that there is no need for squatting. (G3)