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Linden one-stop shop was transparent – Irfaan Ali

Jun 23, 2009 News

Housing Ministry is prepared to investigate authenticity of applicants’ information

The Ministry of Housing and Water is prepared to address reports that suggest that people living overseas have received house lots and that spouses have benefited from separate allocations.
Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, made this disclosure in response to an article published in the Monday Edition of this newspaper, which highlighted the concerns of some Region Ten residents about the Ministry’s recent allocation process.
In the article, headlined “Lindeners allege favouritism in house lot distribution,” the residents cited several scenarios to support their allegations.
But according to the Minister, while he is confident that the allocation process in the mining town was most transparent, he is willing to facilitate an investigation if information proving otherwise is made available to his Ministry.
He pointed out that the allocation of the lots, which came through the innovative One Stop Shop Initiative, was an open process which was witnessed by hundreds of residents.
“Wherever there is information that persons are being allotted lands illegally, we need that information. Once we get that information we will take all action to uproot these illegal transactions,” warned Minister Ali.
According to him, ongoing efforts are being made by the Ministry to eliminate such practices, even as he highlighted that in Linden a number of persons were instigated to squat on unallocated land with the expectation that they would eventually be given the rights to the land.
“All of those who were allocated lots in Linden were persons who applied prior to 2007. These are people who went through the process of an interview and everything.”
However, in order to emphasise the transparency of the process, the Minister said that he will ensure that his Ministry publish all of the names of the persons who were allocated house lots. He further warned that if any information other than that provided to the Ministry is unearthed about persons awarded house lots, actions will be taken against them.
“If persons have information on any of these people, we are asking them to bring that information in to the Central Housing and Planning Authority,” the Minister urged.
According to Denise King Tudor, Land Development and Administration Manager, the majority of the persons that were allocated lots recently had applied since 2003. She added that others who had applied subsequently were given the opportunity to select lot numbers once they qualify, based on the criteria the Ministry has in place.
“We had commitments with most of these people that we allocated lots to because they were given offers years ago. But it is only now we were able to move the process along to give them the opportunity to select.”
She disclosed that two areas in particular were addressed during the One Stop Shop Initiative, namely Amelia’s Ward and Wisroc B.
“I thought the people there were extremely excited about the intervention we made. In fact, it was a significant progress we made in that Region because we had not been able to do that before, particularly in Amelia’s Ward.”
She, too, concluded that the process was done in a very transparent manner.
Regional Vice Chairman, Samuel Hooper, noted that while the process was geared to serve as many people as possible, to say that they have all been served “is to go out there on a limb. I could attest to the fact that indeed many people were spoken to and would have gotten the desire of their heart.”
He related though that he had received some calls about the way the initiative was engaged even as he pointed out that “there will be those that you will be able to service and there will be those you will not be able to service.”
Hooper said that while the process has massively impacted the region, he had also in the initial stage recommended that the situation in the mining town may require at least three One Stop Shop missions to fully satisfy residents.
He however ruled out reports of partiality of the system. “I am not aware of any. Calls of that nature are yet to come to my desk,” Hooper asserted.

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