HDC online petition picks up steam

In a telephone interview with Newsday yesterday, Daren McLeod, former local government councillor and lead activist of Country FirsTT, said, “At this stage the petition is to show how many people support the group Country FirsTT and we believe there are more people supporting our petition because they are also HDC applicants.” The petition, started June 9, has gathered over 3000 signatures. The group aims to reach 5000 which they intend to carry to Minister of Housing and Urban Development Randall Mitchell in the hopes of furthering their call for an end to the lottery system used to allocate 60 per cent of HDC houses to the public and the creation of a more merit-based system. “There are people in stressful situations who are also low-income earners, they need help too.

The applicants for HDC housing call on the HDC to allocate these vacant units and to halt all new construction until these empty units are accounted for by applicants who have been waiting for as many as 35 years,” said Mc Leod.

Country FirsTT was established in 2011 and has been focusing on, what it deems as a housing crisis with reference to the right to adequate housing. In a public meeting held at City Hall, Port of Spain on July 21, the group obtained 300 physical signatures for their petition.

“Not everyone is online and we understand that, so we try to incorporate them into our cause,” said Mc Leod.