Housing and You…The problems with squatting

Sep 28, 2014 News

By Leonard Gildarie
Last week, we spoke of a touchy issue – land disputes. As expected, the calls were numerous. Many of them came from Guyanese living in North America. The hurt of a large number of them went deep and has festered over the years. That is the story of land and property disputes in Guyana. It lasts for years.

Squatting has long term implications and can prove to be an expensive process for Government.

Like I said before, while the complaints are that some lawyers are taking retainers and giving little or no representation, sometimes leaving clients in the cold, the issue of property disputes should be addressed using legal advice. But enough said on that.
I received an interesting call last week from an irate East Coast Demerara resident who remigrated.
Diverting a little, I must say that I personally know of several Guyanese who really love this country. They are not afraid to speak openly or do their part. We know of one lady who makes it her duty to use her car to pick up stray animals. We know of one woman’s fight to ensure an entire beach becomes a protected area. And the list goes on.
My friend from the East Coast was worried. His village is under threat. There is squatting taking place at the seawall. As a matter of fact, an entire burial ground has now been taken up. Tombs were broken, covered over, and even razed. Drains are now overgrown. The homes are haphazardly set. It is a nightmare to regularize. The situation there is nothing new.
I grew up in Grove, on the East Bank of Demerara. Back then there was no Diamond scheme. There was Grove Squatting Area and a scheme called Samatta Point, where many soldiers lived. There was lots of empty land where on Easter Day families gathered for the fun.
I recalled trekking through the squatting area, as I had friends there. The streets were tracks and almost impassable during the rainy season. The homes were decent, but the area was stagnated for years. More than a decade ago, Government moved to regularize the area. Today, Grove Squatting Area can no longer be considered such. Only the name has remained. There are paved streets, telephones, drainage, water and fences that run in a straight line.
It would be extremely difficult to imagine Grove Squatting Area was once a “squatting area”.
But the same could not be said for quite a few places. I happen to know that Plastic City in the Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara area, and Pigeon Island, East Coast Demerara, are troubled spots.
I remembered when Sophia was a major headache. The homes were scattered and the bushes were tall. Even now, we see from time to time residents catching large snakes and monstrous looking reptiles.
But the area has seen improvements in leaps and bounds. There are paved streets, shops, telephone and water.
The issue of squatting is a sore one. Many families, unable to afford or who could not qualify under normal circumstances for a mortgage, had grabbed opportunities to lay claim to a spot. For the majority, it is building a little shack to sleep. This improved over time to the area being fenced, and even farmed. Eventually, somebody else saw and they too took a piece. And so squatting in an area becomes a fact.
In most cases squatting takes place along a track, sea dam area, or plumb in the middle of state lands.
I am really worried about sea dam squatting.
Along most of these areas are what is known as the facade drains. These drains are supposed to take the excess water that comes over the sea dam or sea wall and naturally take it back out. In most cases, the drains are filled over. So there is that major drainage threat. Another issue in squatting is that one is investing in a home that does not have any security. You don’t have a transport or title and cannot access financing. Then, of course, there is the threat of being moved by Government.
I recalled the scores who lived along the railway embankment line, parallel to Lamaha Street, in the city. They all spent money to put down the structures. In the end, they were all removed.
Another major problem is the regularizing of the areas. Most of the homes built in squatting settlements are sometimes too close to each other or irregular in placement. It is difficult to build roads when this happens. Of course, the situation becomes all too pronounced when there is a fire.
Having access to basic services like light, water and telephone are also problems. You need to show documents for the land when applying for these services. Then there are the sanitation issues. With poor drainage, mosquitoes thrive, leading to the very real threat of illness.
When planning for a housing scheme, Government has to take into account areas for schools, playgrounds and other facilities. In a squatting area, it becomes difficult to plan for these as land availability will play a factor. So families are forced to send children to another community to attend school, another disadvantage itself.
Of course, the absence of basic services like electricity has proven deadly in the past. We know that Sophia, where the incidence of electricity theft is among the highest in the country, has seen quite a few lives snuffed out. Exposed wires and poor wiring have also raised the very real threat of fire.
Of course, we have seen countless photos of children fetching water for their home.
So yes, squatting has remained a major problem for Government.
A new law passed a few years ago bars persons from applying for rights to state lands if it is proven that squatting took place. I am speaking of course, and I stand to be corrected, of prescriptive rights.
There is another complaint being raised and it is one mainly for the well-to-do families. Imagine you buy a piece of land for millions and want to live in that exclusive area. You move in and, lo and behold, your bedroom window overlooks a field of squatters. This is the reality of the relatively affluent Sparendaam area with neighbouring Better Hope on the East Coast Demerara.
In a nutshell, while there will be arguments that people are too poor, the cost of squatting is too big to be swept aside. It speaks of lawlessness, but also of threats to long term developments. It places a burden on certain communities and can even harbour unsavoury characters who simply fall off the radar. The fact that an entire community was built in a burial ground also tells me that our system of regularisation and monitoring has to be ramped up.
Enjoy the week and don’t forget to drop those e-mails to [email protected] or call weekdays on 225-8491 or 6821256.