The housing ministry is aiming to have areas such as Plastic City, Container City, West Ruimveldt and East Ruimveldt regularized to allow Diamond, Grove, Herstelling and a number of areas in Linden to benefit from sea defence works, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
At a media conference last week, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali said that during the last high tide period, the sea defence at Diamond, Grove and Herstelling faced tremendous difficulties owing to squatters occupying the reserves.
In the meantime, the ministry has been appealing to the persons residing on government reserves to visit the ministry to begin the process of house lot allocation.
Ali pointed out that of the 63 families residing on the reserves, 40 of them have completed the process for house lots and the allocations were made. He said the ministry is at present working with the remaining 23 families to have their documents processed so the allocations can be made.
Ali said although relocation is a not an easy process for the dwellers, the ministry is working in partnership with families towards the easiest and most acceptable solution in the relocation plan. Meanwhile, consultations have started with residents at Container City and 59 buildings have been identified for relocation, while so far 49 of those families have started the process of acquiring a house lot.
In West Ruimveldt, approximately 150 buildings were identified, but there has been a slow response to this process with 90 families beginning their application process. More than 60 more families are required to complete the process, GINA noted. East Ruimveldt is faced with an even worse situation, Ali remarked.
“We have 150 buildings more numbered for relocation and to date we only have seven of the families in those buildings come in to complete the process so we want to take this opportunity to call on the public to come in; we have our team that is going out there too to try to facilitate the process. We cannot do anything unless persons come in and commence the process of their house lot allocation.”
Plastic City is faced with a similar situation; 129 buildings have been earmarked for relocation, however only 59 of those families have completed the initial process and approximately 35 families have been allocated house lots.
According to the minister, approximately 400 squatters are to be regularized in the Region Ten mining areas, and so far more than 235 of those have been verified.
He said that for some time government has been trying to regularize and issue titles to persons residing in Region Ten, more specifically in areas such as Coomaka, North Hampshire, Rainbow City, Old Cara Cara and Industrial Area.
The ministry is working in partnership with Linmine and NICIL to have the exercise completed within two months.
Meanwhile, the housing ministry has been working to render assistance to the victims of the Easter Monday fire at Barrack and High streets, Kingston which has left 19 families homeless.
One person applied for a house lot and was allocated at Parfait Harmonie, Ali said.
A technical team has worked with the 18 remaining families to apply for house lots which they did.
Discussions with other agencies including Food for the Poor will be held to find means of assisting the victims, GINA added.
