New Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali is showing an aptitude for getting things done that only a few of his colleagues have displayed. He has picked up the reins of the ministry and seemingly after a few weeks of immersing himself in its workings has begun shaking out the rugs, so to speak; effecting change which he says he hopes will produce efficiency.
His latest move to set up a ‘one-stop shop’ to expedite the allocating and processing of house lots will cut back a lot of the red tape previously associated with this service. From the minister’s projections, once this gets going, persons seeking to procure a plot of land to build their own homes will have their applications processed in hours, rather than the three months or more it currently takes. His blunt order that reported water problems should be fixed in two days, suggests that he intends to run his ministry as opposed to simply managing his portfolio or alternatively throwing his weight around. However, these are early days yet for Minister Ali and it is yet to be seen whether he will stay the course.
Among the issues that this minister, like his predecessor, will have to tackle are the allocated yet vacant house lots and maintaining standards in home building. In each area where plots have been allocated there are some where years have passed and homes have not been built. The last two housing ministers had indicated that these plots would be repossessed and reallocated, the assumption being that the prospective homeowners had lost interest in taking that next step. While this might be so in some instances it will not apply across the board and what the ministry ought to be doing is investigating those who have not built their homes prior to seizing the plots.
One plausible reason would be that the prospective homeowners’ circumstances changed after they received the house lots; another could be that they misrepresented their ability to build a home.
Many people would like to own their own homes; few can actually afford it. What the majority of people accessing low-income plots need is to be able to move from the unhealthy squatter-type shanty towns they have taken up residence in to safe and affordable housing. What they get is a low-income plot, which at a cost of $58,000 is heavily subsidized by the government, and access to mortgages to build. In most instances, the plot of land they receive is far removed from their jobs and their children’s schools (they must have two children and be earning below a certain figure to be considered as low-income house-lot candidates); not to mention basic medical and other services like a hospital/clinic, police and fire stations and post office.
When these prospective homeowners consider that the true price of improving their living situation includes mortgage, ongoing maintenance, a hefty transportation bill, costs associated with health care and other things they did not pay for in the past, the mere thought of it is burdensome. Many are forced to choose not to undertake the task or to postpone it in the hope that their circumstances would improve; this is hardly ever the case.
What very poor people need, particularly those who are single parents, is truly subsidized housing. And this does not entail a house-lot lottery. What the government ought to consider is an arrangement, where using grant aid or money budgeted for poverty alleviation, it can build sturdy apartments or range-type homes or condominiums and offer them for lease at subsidized rates. This is one of the moves that would be crucial to ridding the country of areas like ‘Skull City’ and ‘Plastic City’ and permanently removing squatters from government reserves along major city canals, which prohibits them from being cleaned and contributes to flooding and other unhealthy situations.
Perhaps the last time such a project was undertaken was during the Burnham administration, in Laing Avenue.
Progressive governments since have stuck to handing out house lots, which though the numbers look good on paper now, could down the road provide real eyesores, not to mention dangerous situations. The reality is that some of these homes are being put up with the use of unskilled labour and substandard materials in order to cut costs. They may well begin to fall apart long before they should be due for any maintenance. The owners, who tend to have one or both feet still on the poverty line, would be unable to repair them as they have to continue to pay their bills especially now that the customary monthly remittance from Auntie Dolly in London, New York or Ontario would have ceased, because she would have been laid off.
Perhaps Minister Ali, who seems to have new ideas and a sense of purpose, will be the one who finally gives the people what they need.
