• by IPS Correspondents (port of spain)
• Wednesday, December 21, 1994
• Inter Press Service

PORT OF SPAIN, Dic 21 (IPS) - The housing sector in the Caribbean is in the mess it is in because shelter is provided with a political agenda, a new study to go to regional heads of government says.

"Historically housing has been tied up with electoral cycles. Housing programmes have had strong political agendas because housing is provided for the ruling party's supporters," says Asad Mohammed, managing partner of Development Planning Associates which carried out the study in eastern Caribbean countries.

Mohammed said this system has had limited success -- providing benefits mainly in countries like Jamaica where parties take turns forming the government.

But in countries like Trinidad and Tobago where there was 30 year regime,which changed for five years (1986-1991) before being reinstated, only one group is served, he added.

Mohammed said among the problems the study found were the discounting of large sections of the housing sector by governments and the fact that low income groups do not benefit from state subsidies on housing.

"Most countries are not even approaching an understanding of the housing sector. During our review of the sector virtually without exception, the official policies did not reflect that there is a squatting problem or a land capture problem.

"Officially there was no admission that the building and land standards were way beyond the incomes of most people in the country ... And if people don't even admit that there is a problem, how can their policies be appropriate?" asked Mohammed.

In the Caribbean housing has never been considered one of the state's main responsibilities as is the provision of water or electricity. Many governments have however assumed the political responsibility of providing affordable housing but their programmes have been inconsistent and haphazard.

"Most of the money that has been spent on housing has not been spent on low income housing. Government's largest subsidy is towards middle income housing; some people receive as much as 300,000 dollar (52,700 U.S. dollar) loans. That is not the kind of money low income people use to build a house.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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