Douglas

FORMER HOUSING and Environment Minister Easton Douglas, says the proliferation of illegal settlements in Jamaica, particularly in areas vulnerable to flooding, has to be placed on the Government's agenda as a matter of priority.

Douglas, while acknowledging that squatting had become pervasive, told The Gleaner yesterday that although the Government would incur sub-stantial expenditure, the relocation of Jamaicans living in or along river courses, and gully banks, was inevitable.

He said the State should use moral suasion to motivate per-sons living in susceptible areas to move. However, he said lands would have to be identified with basic infrastructure for persons to build houses.

Solutions

"It's easier said than done," he noted, but stressed that solutions had to be found.

The former People's National Party housing minister said the authorities should increase their vigilance against squatting and move swiftly to demolish informal settlements that continue to mushroom in several communities.

He proposed the development of growth centres to divert economic activities from established towns to other areas. Douglas said this would reduce the constant migration of people from rural communities to urban centres.

Sections of a house in Tavern, rural St Andrew, are swept away by the Hope River, which was swollen by heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Gustav. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photo Editor

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com