Housing Minister concedes to defiant settlers in Barrett Hall WESTERN BUREAU: THE MINISTRY of Water and Housing has announced plans to build houses for squatters at Barrett Hall despite their defiance of a position stated by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson six months ago that those putting up new structures would not be accommodated in the planned redevelopment of the property. A month ago, in keeping with the Prime Minister's position, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) bulldozed over 70 structures belonging to settlers on the property. But this week, Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Karl Blythe said new houses would be made available to them. The demolition is still a sore point. "What about those who got hurt?" a resident demanded of the Housing Minister who was in the community for the groundbreaking ceremony for the project. "For those persons, who suffered losses recently, we will subtract your loss from the cost of purchasing your lots," he declared magnanimously to shouts of agreement from the crowd. Last November, settlers on the property met with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and were promised they would have the option of purchasing the land. They were prohibited in the interim from building any new structures. But some persons continued building houses and in April, rangers from the UDC, a state agency overseen by the Prime Minister, brought in the bulldozers. A number of the settlers cried foul, claiming they had made payments of up to $80,000 for the land, claims the UDC has promised to investigate. The Minister told the residents that they would be required to pay no more than $350,000 for the average sized lot of 5,000 square feet, with a number of options for payment. "You can pay down 20 per cent or 10 per cent, or pay down nothing and still get your land," he said to wild approval. Provisions, he added, would be made for the less fortunate and indigent. The project on which ground was broken officially Wednesday is to be managed by National Housing Development Corporation. NHDC Chairman, Michael Vaccianna, who chaired Wednesday's function, told The Gleaner that the cost to the residents would take care of basic development and infrastructure, a statement which seems in conflict with Minister Blythe's 'closing' assurance to the crowd that depending on their level of affordability, persons would be able to get their lots without paying any money at all.
|
