By Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter 
Reynolds
THERE IS renewed concerns that an increased demand for residential houses is forcing Government to use up farm lands for construction purposes.
According to housing industry experts the country has nearly exhausted even these available lands dubbed "unprofitable" to meet housing needs.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica, in its 2002 Economic and Social Survey, reported that, "The majority of lands owned by the Government which are suitable for housing development has already been used for housing projects and the remainder cannot meet the current demand for housing."
CONFIRMED
This was confirmed by one former town planner who said that the situation was at the point where persons should now brace themselves for even more "cramping", (increasing density) with a shift from "sprawling residential homes and half acre properties to more compact high-rise structures". In addition, there would definitely be more of what he called an "intrusion onto agricultural lands".
"There is nothing really wrong with this type of arrangement," said the former town planner who requested his name not be used. "As long as the proper infrastructure central sewerage system, the required open spaces is put in place."
To date the scramble has resulted in thousands of acres of reclaimed canelands handed over for residential use in areas like Bushy Park, Mineral Heights, Long Bay Park and Island Meadows in Clarendon and St. Catherine.
And in a response to the growing need for residential space, areas like Goshen in St. Elizabeth and Bellevue, St. Catherine, which were originally designated for sole agricultural use are now being considered for residential purposes.
The National Housing Trust (NHT) said it was unable to provide an estimate on current demand for houses islandwide or projections for the next three to five years.
The Trust said "No single figure on its own, can adequately describe housing demand in a parish or around the island" but added that "effective demand is driven by affordability, (among other factors)".
But Milverton Reynolds, chief executive officer with the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) has dismissed the idea of a demand crisis forcing the Government to use up agricultural lands.
"As far as I am aware we certainly are not doing that," he said.
"The fact is that Government does have a lot of land and sufficient lands are out there that can be used for properly developed housing solutions."
The NHDC is a merger of the Caribbean Housing Finance Corporation Limited, National Housing Corporation Limited and Operation PRIDE (Programme for Resettlement and Integrated Development Enterprises). It works to provide housing solutions by undertaking real estate developments, provide mortgage and construction finance, as well as management and financing for the PRIDE process.
Mr. Reynolds said each application for land first has to be assessed by the Ministry of Agriculture which then determines whether or not the land is approved.
"I would agree that in some parishes the (Government) land available is not really suitable for housing. Manchester for example may give a challenge because of the nature of the terrain, but in other parishes there is no shortage of marginal lands that may be used for housing.
"In St. Catherine, for example, there is no shortage there and that takes the spillover from Kingston and St. Andrew, and there's Clarendon with adequate land as well."
Marginal lands, Mr. Reynolds says, are those which have been assessed by personnel from the Agriculture Ministry as not being suitable for any "profitable agricultural use therefore it can be used for housing". He indicated that some canelands had been so designated.
But at least one environmental activist has condemned even this arrangement.
"The lands have been destroyed by them burning the cane in the first place, and even now some value could easily be reclaimed if they were to, for example, clear up the sludge from the sewage plants and add that to the land in compost." he said.
OTHER PROGRAMMES
Mr. Reynolds said that in order to address the needs other programmes had been put in place. "We have also tried to facilitate private individuals who have indicated that they are willing to work with us, and given the fact that we are not providing anywhere near the number we need for housing solution it makes sense really that we would find partners (as is done through the Joint Venture Policy)."
The goal of the Joint Venture programme, a partnership arrangement between Government agencies and private developers is to ensure that adequate affordable housing solutions are built in keeping with Government policies and programmes.
"Our major areas of emphasis have been tourism and bauxite areas and major towns. Most of our developments are in St. James, Ocho Rios, Negril, Kingston and St. Andrew, as we try to target where the need is greatest," Mr. Reynolds added.
