Get tough

GOVERNMENT SENATOR Dennis Meadows is proposing that tougher legislation be enacted to deal with the problem of squatting.

Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang has said a significant portion of the island's population is living on "captured land".

Many of these squatters are said to be endangering themselves and their families by building houses on the banks of rivers, gullies, and in other danger zones.

In advancing his arguments for tougher laws to combat squatting, Meadows told yesterday's sitting of the Senate that the pervasive problem of squatting had reached epidemic proportions. He said it was having a severe impact on the socio-economic fabric of the society, resulting in crime and other antisocial behaviour.

"The problem of squatting has now become so pervasive, beyond the capacity of the local authority to police it under the existing provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947, resulting in widespread unplanned and unsafe settlements," Meadows said.

His motion urged his colleagues in the Senate to recommend to the Government that it "enact strong anti-squatting legislation to criminalise the act of squatting".

Meadows pointed to the havoc unleashed by Tropical Storm Nicole on "capture settlements" that teetered precariously on the banks of rivers and gullies.

Fourteen lives were lost when rains from the tropical storm lashed the island last month. Several of the storm victims were said to be people who squatted on the banks of rivers.

Meadows also wants the Government to pursue, in addition to current policies, aggressive and progressive housing and social policies aimed at facilitating affordable housing solutions for its citizenry.

No contributions

The National Housing Trust (NHT) is wrestling with the issue of providing affordable housing, but is handicapped by the failure of thousands of Jamaicans to make contributions to the trust.

The Government has to contend with the fact that in cases where the State has used funds through the NHT, or other means, to provide affordable houses, it is unable to recover the funds as occupants have been unwilling to meet their obligations.

Meadows contends that the internationally accepted definition of squatting is "the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building that the squatter does not own, rent, or otherwise have the permission to use".

"The causes and consequences that often attend these informal settlements are well known, not the least being economic hardships, urban migration, tacit political support, and the absence of social infrastructure such as schools and health-care facilities," asserted Meadows.

In 2003, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Technology published a survey showing that there were approximately 635 squatter settlements across Jamaica, with approximately 76 per cent of these on government lands.

Increase in settlements

A later study released by the Ministry of Water and Housing identified a total of 754 settlements. These studies reveal that in less than six years, we have had a 19 per cent increase in the number of squatter settlements.

The study also estimated that 20 per cent of Jamaica's population resided in squatter settlements.

Under the Trespass Act, which defines squatters, if any person enters upon and occupies any lands not belonging to him, he may be brought before a Resident Magistrate's Court, and if found to be a squatter, can be made to be removed from the possession of the land and slapped with a fine not exceeding $500,000.

A squatter who occupies private lands, and does so undisturbed for more than 12 years, can take steps to obtain a title so that he or she can become the registered owner of the property.

In the case of government lands, a squatter cannot make any claim unless the squatter has been living on the land for more than 60 years.