Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson recently visited the South Sophia district to address a number of issues affecting residents and homed in on squatting.
“The biggest issue is the squatting that is taking place in the area,” the Minister was quoted as saying in a GINA press bulletin. She reminded residents of President David Granger’s plea to the nation upon assuming office, to stop squatting and revealed that projects will come on stream shortly to reduce or even eliminate squatting in the area.
The Minister stated in the release that if the entire government reserve is taken up by squatters it will be unable to provide services, or bring industries or commerce since there will be no place to put them. One alternative would be for the Ministry to build condominiums, apartments and single houses in the Cummings Lodge area. These low cost housing units could be offered to the Sophia squatters, mainly low income earners, on ‘a rent to own’ basis.
Chairman of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) for South Liliendaal, Clayton Hinds identified a number of areas which had been neglected by the previous administration, according to the bulletin. When Sharpe-Patterson visited the Practical Instruction Centre which had been established in the early 1990s to provide basic agricultural training for Sophia youths, he pointed out that the Centre’s large block of land was now occupied by large trees and bush.
The Minister also visited the market tarmac in the South Sophia area which had never been utilized for market purposes. The Chairman of the CDC suggested the expansion of the tarmac and the construction of stalls to attract vendors who currently ply their trade elsewhere, in the hope to make it the central point of business, the release added.
Other issues to be taken up by the Minister include drainage, business development, agricultural potential and infrastructure, the press release noted.
