Dear Editor,
It is sad to see people who applied for a low-income house lot being pushed around not just for years, but for decades. One of my Amerindian friends told me that she is tired and fed up with the system at the Ministry of Housing; bear in mind this woman is working with the government and has two sons. When she applied her eldest son was 10 years old and the little one was 5 years old; the eldest is now 25 years old and the little son is now 20. She told me that because she doesn’t have money to pass under the table she cannot get a piece of land to build a house to live in. She cried and told me she swore that no one would ever get her money illegally and no one could ask her for a bribe. She said she was angry, really angry.
She claimed that because she is an Amerindian they are discriminating against her. Editor, I was a former director of CH&PA and this royal push-around went on under the previous administration, and it seems to me that it has spilt over into this new administration because some members of the board are weak in making decisions. When the Chairman assumed duties on the new board, he was blowing hot, but now he is blowing cold. All the hot talk about dismissals, removal and corruption boils down to nothing, and people are laughing outside. There were push-arounds in my time, but I don’t think as much as now, from what I am hearing. There is a problem at this ministry. And it must be addressed. It must be neither underestimated nor over-estimated. It must not be swept under the carpet, with the pretence that it does not exist.
At the same time, it must not be seen as an unsolvable problem. What needs to be done is for the problem to be recognized and certain reforms in the system to be implemented; those reforms must pave the way for a revolutionary approach to the problem.
This government should stop the talking and do more for the poor and downtrodden who voted for them. I personally joined the coalition campaign because I wanted change and not exchange.
Bear in mind that all the outstanding applicants have been living in rented houses for decades and if you computed the rent that they are paying they could build a house and pay their debts to the banks. Looking back, how many of those selected by the previous administration – including their friends ‒ to get lands at a cheap cost did not develop them or put any infrastructure in place.
There is an avenue for appeals and complaints at the ministry, but I wonder if the board chairman and the members are aware of it. If a person considers himself or herself unfairly treated in the allocation or non-allocation of a house lot it’s the duty of the minister or the board to look into it. There is also a committee comprising three persons who look into royal run-arounds of applicants, namely, the chairman of the board and two nominees from NGOs as well as the secretary of the board or another designated officer to serve as secretary. This committee adjudicates in matters of house-lot allocations or non-allocation, and the outstanding allocation of lands. No matter engages the attention of the committee without the complainant exhausting all means for redress within the Central Housing and Planning Authority, including appeal to the minister.
A sound policy and programme will impact positively on all segments of the population if it is fair and transparent.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
