Easton Douglas, who had a long stint in the housing and environment portfolios of the former People's National Party administration, has advised the new Government to place the removal of illegal settlements from dangerous areas near the top of its 'to do' list.

This is precisely what Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said is his intention in the wake of the destruction left by Tropical Storm Gustav last week.

The prime minister's immediate focus was in the area of the Hope River in the parish of St Andrew, where several 'informal' homes, and even substantial houses, have been built in the river and precariously perched on badly eroded ravines. People lost their lives in the area, having been swept away in the raging flood waters of the river that, downstream, knocked out the bridge in Harbour View.

Economic, policy failures

But this problem of illegal settlements is not one only for the hilly regions or the Hope River. It exists all across Jamaica, this proliferation of informal settlements and squatter communities. Part of the reason for this is economic and policy failures.

People tend to follow jobs or to go to places where they believe they can eke out a living. And having done so, they need places to live.

It was entirely predictable that, with the growth of tourism on Jamaica's north coast, workers would be required for the hotels and related businesses. Then, there would be people to offer all the services that keep communities going.

Yet, an inadequate shelter policy and poor development planning left these communities short of homes. The upshot - squatting on the hillsides and environmental degradation that is exacerbated during extreme events like the series of hurricanes Jamaica has experienced in recent years.

The long period of anaemic performance by the Jamaican economy and rural underdevelopment has not helped. The pace of migration from rural communities to urban centres has been rapid.

Order needed

Clearly, there is a need to bring order to this process of physical planning; laws have to be upgraded and those that exist have to be enforced. Mr Douglas is right in urging the Government to do what he failed to achieve during his tenure and, frankly, what the administration in which he served didn't have the will to do.

People cannot be allowed to live in areas that not only damage the environment and place their lives at risk, but cause danger to the wider society, as is the case these days with the predictable hillside erosion and flooding during rain. And sometimes it will require more than moral suasion for people to follow the rules.

The 'no-build' lines that Mr Golding has proposed will have to be vigorously enforced.

Unfortunately, though, the focus has been primarily on the illegal settlers and squatters, which is usually a code for poor people, against whom laws tend to be enforced. Truth be told, a significant part of the blame for watershed damage and hillside erosion, with flat land consequences, is to be shared by the rich and well-to-do who build their homes in the hills overlooking towns. They, too, must be subject to Mr Golding's 'no-build' zones.

With Mr Douglas having spoken, we expect this issue to be placed beyond petty political point-scoring, when rulings and regulations have to be enforced.