Up to late last week, the families affected by the collapse of a section of range houses in East La Penitence were still marking time. Some had gone to stay with relatives and others for whom that was not an option had started building shacks in which to dwell on the same site, using materials from the ruined buildings. One resident and her family had moved back into a partially collapsed section of a building. Prior to that, they were all sleeping outside in the yard.
The tragedy that their lives have become is compounded by the fact that most, if not all, of the residents have school-aged children. In a few months, some of them are likely to be writing one of the many examinations imposed on Guyanese schoolchildren – the National Grade Two, Four, Six or Nine Assessment – or the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, depending on their ages. Apart from dealing with the trauma of having their homes literally fall to pieces, these children now have no place to study or complete assignments.
But while education is important, it cannot top the basic human necessity of simply having shelter. There is a sense of security that comes with the ability to close one’s doors and windows, to have privacy and a modicum of comfort. Having a home is a primary need for humans and more so children. Although homelessness is increasing all over the world, no child should grow up devoid of a place where they are protected from the elements, can enjoy quality of life and feel safe.
If one looks at nature one would notice that birds build nests, spiders spin webs, bees construct hives, ants and termites build hills and mounds and so on. These sometimes-complex constructions are for habitation, protection from predators, or to lure prey, but they each have a function. It is only natural therefore for humans to want and have places within which to dwell. And a home often provides the structure or stability families need.
When families lose their homes, therefore, their first and most basic need would be shelter. There was no mention that these East La Penitence families were offered this, even temporarily. Is this not a role for the Ministry of Social Protection?
Meanwhile, it is mind-boggling that the only word the families received from officials of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) up to Tuesday last, was that they should visit the office to start the process of acquiring house lots. Unless the CHPA plans to leapfrog these families through the system, this is a process that will take a long time. The Ministry of Communities has admitted that it has a backlog of housing applications, as most people who have applied for house lots know. Furthermore, the movement from application to acceptance does not immediately afford a family shelter. The majority receive plots of land, which they must pay for and on which they have to build houses. So, even if there was leapfrogging involved, therefore, the entire process would still take years. It would appear that in the interim, it is okay for these unfortunate folks to dwell under distressing conditions.
The residents had claimed, at the time of the collapse, that the range house units had been allocated to them 23 years ago as a temporary measure until they could be awarded house lots. Backlog or not, 23 years is a long time to wait for a house lot; it would appear after that promise was made, these families were simply forgotten.
A look at the buildings that collapsed reveals that they were not maintained. Some had vegetation growing on the outside and throughout the broken-down sections, rotted wood was clearly visible. They were just a disaster waiting to happen. In addition, those that remain standing give every indication that they could also succumb to the same fate. What then? Obviously, a series of shacks in this East La Penitence community while these families continue to wait.
For years, successive governments have designated affordable housing as a priority and while some citizens have been able to realise this Guyanese dream, too many more are still waiting. At the beginning of 2017, the CHPA had 25,000 housing applications on file, the majority of which were holdovers from the previous administration, this is according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s budget speech that year. Of that number, 18,000 were low-income applications.
The APNU+AFC administration won elections in 2015 and according to its Ministry of Communities, processed some 4,000 applications per year. It also built a number of homes which citizens were able to purchase, the latest such scheme being at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara. Yet, Plastic City, an impoverished community in a mangrove swamp at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, which has been in existence for some 27 years, is still there.
Like the people at East La Penitence, the residents of Plastic City have been made promises by politicians for years – the most recent coming from President David Granger on January 31 on the hustings in Region Three. “There will be no more Plastic City,” Mr Granger was quoted as saying. In reality, there isn’t. The original plastic homes have been replaced with wooden ones over the 27 years of the community’s existence, but the lack of potable water, electricity and protection from the tides still exist. Among squatter settlements, Plastic City has to be the worst. It should have ceased to exist 27 years ago. Hopefully, there is a humane resolution in store for both the residents of the East La Penitence collapsed ranges and of Plastic City, regardless of who wins next month.
