“No new squatter settlements will be recognised.”
This was the declaration made by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal during a recent housing drive at Uitvlugt, Region Three.
“We will not be recognising any new ones [squatting areas], but we recognise what we have met and we will work with those areas,” Croal was quoted as saying in a Department of Public Information (DPI) report on Tuesday.
According to the report, Croal said that persons must move away from the idea that they can illegally occupy state lands or any property belonging to another individual, with the view of making it their own.
“Whether we are in Success [on the East Coast Demerara], we have to do the right thing. Whether we are in Amelia’s Ward, we have to do the right thing…but we just can’t behave as if we have a God-given right to assume what we don’t own,” he stressed.
The housing minister pointed out that there is a process that must be followed, through which persons can apply for land at the housing ministry.
However, he noted that those who are currently squatting and have been documented by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) will be regularised as far as possible.
In other instances, Croal explained that persons may have to be relocated to other areas, once they fall within an area earmarked for sea defence, roads or other critical infrastructure.
Since the Government assumed office in August 2020, hundreds of squatters in Regions Four and Five have been regularised, while several persons were relocated to developed communities.
The ministry has now focused its attention on Region Three, where 45 squatter settlements were found, many of which will be recognised, and go through the regularisation process, Minister Croal highlighted.
“When we’re finished with those 45, we will see over 3,000 persons being able to finally own their own home,” he stated.
The Minister added that the PPP/C Administration has an aggressive housing programme that caters to the housing needs of all citizens and therefore, “there is absolutely no need for squatting.”
