Reproduced unedited from NEWSDAY, Friday, July 13 2012
To meet the high demand for homes, Cabinet yesterday agreed to a “land for the landless” policy in which State lands would be sold as residential lots for home construction.
Minister of Housing, Dr Roodal Moonilal, made the announcement at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Coco Reef Resort in Tobago.
The new policy is in keeping with the government’s medium-term framework to reduce poverty and develop human resources, he said.
“The objectives of the policy are to provide residential plots at an affordable price to satisfy the demand for the landless poor; to utilise state land resources on a sustainable basis; giving economic viability and ensuring that social and ecological sustainability are given equal emphasis in the allocation of state land,” he said.
The policy is also intended to promote orderly and planned development of state resources within a single development framework, and also allocate land for other uses such as community facilities, religious institutions, community-based institutions and non-governmental organisations, he said.
Moonilal said the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and housing sector was under “considerable strain” meeting “the overwhelming and increasing” demand, and the HDC data base has approximately 129,000 applicants for houses. He said even with an extended construction programme, the HDC could only build 5,000-6,000 homes annually when 12,000-14,000 units were needed.
“In that system, there are almost 40,000 persons who have expressed an interest in obtaining a plot of land, and the previous administration never implemented any aggressive policy of land distribution, ” he noted.
He also said land within squatting communities would be developed and regularised by the Land Settlement Agency (LSA)
“We will begin the process as early as August, 2012, of developing on the existing squatting sites through an in-fill expansion programme, this will be undertaken by the LSA,” he said.
Moonilal said vacant lots would be identified in state parcels which are currently occupied by squatters.“By creating vacant lots in a planned sustainable manner we will provide lots of land to low income citizens,” he said.
Areas identified for expansion under the Land for the Landless policy include Guayaguayare, Gran Couva, Golconda, Cocorite, Moruga, River Estate, Princes Town, Mathura Village, Caratal and Las Lomas.
To meet the high demand for homes, Cabinet yesterday agreed to a “land for the landless” policy in which State lands would be sold as residential lots for home construction.
Minister of Housing, Dr Roodal Moonilal, made the announcement at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Coco Reef Resort in Tobago.
The new policy is in keeping with the government’s medium-term framework to reduce poverty and develop human resources, he said.
“The objectives of the policy are to provide residential plots at an affordable price to satisfy the demand for the landless poor; to utilise state land resources on a sustainable basis; giving economic viability and ensuring that social and ecological sustainability are given equal emphasis in the allocation of state land,” he said.
The policy is also intended to promote orderly and planned development of state resources within a single development framework, and also allocate land for other uses such as community facilities, religious institutions, community-based institutions and non-governmental organisations, he said.
Moonilal said the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and housing sector was under “considerable strain” meeting “the overwhelming and increasing” demand, and the HDC data base has approximately 129,000 applicants for houses. He said even with an extended construction programme, the HDC could only build 5,000-6,000 homes annually when 12,000-14,000 units were needed.
“In that system, there are almost 40,000 persons who have expressed an interest in obtaining a plot of land, and the previous administration never implemented any aggressive policy of land distribution, ” he noted.
He also said land within squatting communities would be developed and regularised by the Land Settlement Agency (LSA)
“We will begin the process as early as August, 2012, of developing on the existing squatting sites through an in-fill expansion programme, this will be undertaken by the LSA,” he said.
Moonilal said vacant lots would be identified in state parcels which are currently occupied by squatters.“By creating vacant lots in a planned sustainable manner we will provide lots of land to low income citizens,” he said.
Areas identified for expansion under the Land for the Landless policy include Guayaguayare, Gran Couva, Golconda, Cocorite, Moruga, River Estate, Princes Town, Mathura Village, Caratal and Las Lomas.
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