– Region Three squatting areas on radar – Housing Minister
The ‘zero tolerance’ campaign on squatting will be forcefully pursued in the coming months to rectify the issue of squatting and remove persons who are illegally occupying government reserves, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali disclosed recently. He said there are a number of ‘zero tolerance’ areas on which his Ministry is working aggressively to prevent the development of emerging settlements and to manage those that can be regularised.
There would be no negotiations or compromise, the Housing Minister said in areas that cannot be regularised.
Minister Ali said squatters who are at present occupying the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority’s reserve in Stanleytown, Plastic City, and Skull City, Region Three are critical on his Ministry’s agenda for action.
“This year would see a lot of aggression in terms of dealing comprehensively with the issue of squatting,” he said.
The Housing Minister pointed out that his Ministry is also considering formalising an inter-agency task force among the Housing Ministry, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Ministry of Public Works Sea Defence Unit and the Regional Administration.
The committee will determine strong measures and actions to deal with the issue of squatting and will also monitor reserves to ensure that squatters do not re-emerge. This is an important activity that the Ministry would be embarking on this year, Minister Ali said.
Providing an update on the Anna Catherina/Cornelia Ida Sea View squatters’ issue, the Minister was happy to report that all persons located along the Anna Catherina sea defence reserve had visited the Ministry and most of them had agreed to take up offers at the Parfaite Harmonie housing scheme.
He stated that those persons who would have sold their house lots have removed themselves from the issue and have visited the Ministry and requested a grace period to remove. (GINA)