Baksh calls for amnesty for squatters

As he slammed Government for its cruelty towards the squatters of Wallerfield and Cashew Gardens, former Housing Minister Sadiq Baksh yesterday called for an amnesty for the squatter community. The amnesty would extend the cut-off date, allowing those who are squatting at the present time to continue to live in their structures, while demolishing any new buildings. He was speaking in the Senate yesterday on the Vesting of State Lands Bill. He also accused the PNM of causing the rising prices for home construction materials. He said the moment Government announced that it was providing subsidies for homeowners, the housing sector became “overheated” and prices shot up — steel by 40 percent, pumping equipment by 25 per cent —  “completely eroding the subsidy.”

He said apart from the global rise in prices as a result of the growing demand in Iraq and China, there  were artificial conditions created by poor Government planning which led to price increases in Trinidad and Tobago. Baksh charged that the PNM administration encouraged people to squat on State lands and that this expansion in squatting was “quietly endorsed” by individual Government members. Now the same Government was  going in the early hours of the morning to knock down people’s homes, he lamented. He said the implementation of Government’s new settlements programme, could not be done at the expense of the “poorest poor.” He said the most pressing problem in Trinidad and Tobago related to housing for “no-income” earners — which were mostly single female headed households which lived below the poverty line. Baksh called on Government to implement a programme  to deal with the plight of those who were encouraged and allowed to squat or simply went on their own; develop an immediate plan to contain further squattering, and vigorously ensure that there is no further expansion of these unplanned settlements.