We welcome the statement by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government, Norman Whittaker that no local government body, including the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) has the authority to give any citizen permission to squat/or build on state reserves.
Squatting is an exercise that did not mushroom yesterday, but indeed has its genesis in the former PNC (now APNU) government’s failed housing policy which led to the scourge of squatting throughout the country.
To say that the PNC failed in the area of housing would be an understatement as that party was never known to make concrete efforts to solve the housing problem facing the nation then.
That party had a scant disregard for the people when it ruled the roost for twenty eight years. Their disdain for the people was reflected in the fact they did not see the need for a Housing Ministry and this paved the way for widespread illegal squatting. This plague grew in proportion over the years and was indeed a legacy of the PNC which stood as a monumental block before the incoming PPP/C government in 1992.
We recall that when the PPP/C came to power in 1992, there was no Ministry of Housing. All that was left standing to represent the area of housing the nation was a run-down and dilapidated Central Housing and Planning Authority which had become a ‘toothless bull dog’ under the PNC.
When the PPP/C came to power in 1992, which party is ruling the country until now, it was blessed with the visionary leadership of late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan whose apparition to house the people of this country was born since in the days of the estate logie.
He waited for his day and when in 1992 his party won the elections, he quickly re-established a Ministry of Housing with an energized Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
The people recall that at that time, the ruling party inherited a legacy of squatting from the PNC and squalor settlements were found all over Guyana. The new government acted swiftly and decisively in valorous efforts to provide decent housing for the Guyanese people, and from zero in 1992, the current government has over the years been churning out house lots for the Guyanese people like hot cakes.
However, as much as the government has been delivering house lots to the people, the vexed question of squatting is still hanging around in a few parts of the country, some of which have been dubbed zero tolerant, which are the illegal occupation of state lands which are basically road reserves, sea defence reserves, parapets of drainage trenches.
In these cases, the people have to relocate as house lots are being provided to them.
It is noteworthy to mention here that no Local Government body including the NDC has the power to give out state reserves. These bodies have to understand that although they are the custodians of all government properties in their respective regions, they do not have the right to give out state reserves. We agree with this as people who occupy reserve lands become very vulnerable in times of natural disasters.
While there are still squatting areas in several parts of the country, the government is making moves, and in the process is assuming its social responsibilities by regularizing squatting areas that are not zero tolerant.
These areas are transformed into regularized housing areas where all possible amenities are being provided for the comfort of these very people who squatted for a number of years without even the basic necessities of life.