ANOTHER shameful episode in the problem-plagued Operation PRIDE land distribution programme is playing out in Retirement, St. James. As reported on the front page of last Thursday's Gleaner, the development of lots in the Retirement scheme has slowed apparently for lack of financing. At the same time, criminals with high-powered weapons are effectively keeping legitimate lot owners out and squatters are moving in to do what they do best - capture land and make demands as if they are entitled to be there.
The upshot is that of 1,000 lots involving government expenditure of some $110 million, only 10 houses have been completed and prospective homeowners shun the scheme even at the cost of their life savings.
The crisis has been brought to the attention of Milverton Reynolds, managing director of the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) which took over responsibility for all PRIDE projects after their reorganisation. The inability of NHDC to give the Retirement scheme the attention it needs is probably due to a shortage of funds but Mr. Reynolds' explanation that, since NHDC has 113 schemes to administer, it "is physically impossible to have all of them running effectively" is unfortunate.
This is not good enough. Good management does not bite off more than it can chew.
We trust that immediate steps will be taken to remedy the situation in St. James so that the public purse will be spared the losses that were incurred in the original programme.
Mr. Reynolds' comment on the situation also suggests that the pace of development is being affected by the non-payment of money due by persons who were allotted lots. The result is that contractors can't be paid, development of infrastructure can't take place, and so mortgage financiers are not committing themselves to underwrite housing development. This is a messy state of affairs.
The PRIDE project may have been intended to help persons of relatively low income to get a start in constructing their homes. But last Thursday's report also indicated that persons awarded lots were now looking elsewhere to build houses, because they had lost confidence in the security of the area.
The NHDC must seek the help of the security forces to clear the area of criminals and squatters. No area of Jamaica must be ceded to armed criminals and especially not in circumstances where legitimate landowners have already made financial commitments to the development of their homes. This is just rank lawlessness taken to a new low.
If we accept the state of affairs in Retirement with a shrug of the shoulder, saying nothing can be done about it, what is to stop its repetition elsewhere in the island? This must not be allowed to happen.
