1200 Certificates of Comfort handed out by PP government in 2 years

Some of the former squatters show off their Certificates of Comfort

The Land Settlement Agency (LSA) of the Ministry of Housing on Tuesday handed out 300 Certificates of Comfort to people who had been squatting on state lands for several years, giving them the comfort of knowing that they would finally own a piece of land.

Among those receiving the legal documents was Geraldine Francis, 87, a great-grandmother who chose to live on a parcel of government land many years ago because she did not have the economic means to buy her own property and also look after her 10 children after her husband died.

Francis was grateful for the gesture from the government agency and said she would always be thankful. Before the ceremony closed she asked the Permanent Secretary in the housing ministry, Reynold Cooper, to read passages from the Bible to the audience, expressing thanks.

"I am going to take up a piece of dirt and say thank God. I not forgetting that. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and those that dwell therein," Francis told reporters.

In a brief address, Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal said his ministry is committed to helping people change their status from squatter to land owner. 

He said in the two years since the People's Partnership has been in office the LSA has handed out more than 1,200 Certificates of Comfort. By comparison, he said, the previous Manning PNM administration handed out only 200 in nine years.

He urged those who are getting their situation regularised to take pride in their communities and the environment so they children and future generations would be proud to say they live in a LSA community.

Moonilal also announced that government plans to get tough on new squatters. 

He also said strategies will be put in place "to ensure that the housing areas will not be a safe haven for criminal elements.