Shadow minister of housing and urban development Dr Roodal Moonilal is calling on the Government and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to seek a humane solution to the housing impasse in Ramjattan Trace, Arima.
Moonilal says the Commissioner of State Lands should also work with the HDC to provide emergency shelter to the displaced occupiers of the State lands.
“That should be the approach concerning all squatters on State lands. Evicting families amid the current economic collapse would only place them on the streets, vulnerable to crime and at risk of further social challenges. In fact, crime will escalate as the poverty ridden and the unemployed are thrown onto the streets,” Moonilal said.
Moonilal made the comment in reply to a question posed to him by the Express via WhatsApp yesterday.
The response came following the demolition of at least eight homes in a squatter settlement off Tumpuna Road, Arima, where at least two affected women told the Express they had nowhere to go, and despite seeking help from their Member of Parliament, Foster Cummings, none was forthcoming.
Moonilal said, “The Minister of Housing should be mindful that the Ramjattan Trace squatters opted to set up and occupy illegal structures because of their financial helplessness.
“The Minister has a duty to intervene and work towards a humane and compassionate solution. The elected Member of Parliament must also be proactive to defend vulnerable citizens who occupy lands as a desperate measure in the absence of any state programme to assist.”
Moonilal said that under the People’s Partnership administration, the “Land for the Landless” was initiated and the then government had distributed 10,000 lots of land to poor and vulnerable families.
This programme attracted 40,000 applicants and 2,000 lower-income persons, he said, adding that the situation today would not have escalated if the Land for the Landless programme had been kept.
When the Express contacted affected residents around 6 p.m. yesterday evening, they said they were told an attorney would be visiting the community to speak with residents, and Moonilal too had contacted them vowing to take their case to the Parliament.
