Dear Editor,

As I write this letter, real estate industry stakeholders, from real estate developers to realtors to attorneys and more, may be crying about the same issue — squatter settlements.

You don’t need to go to the dictionary to define a squatter community. You can find them in almost every parish. They are primarily informal, ad-hoc settlements populated by low-income, impoverished citizens who either lack the ability to service a mortgage or pay rent due to their low income.

The economic costs of squatting is obvious. The people inside the settlements are locked out of a lucrative asset — real estate. Furthermore, real estate dealers, developers, wholesalers, and other players will find that real estate trading is non-existent in the area, which means that whole sections of urban and rural real estate markets are closed off.

The social costs of squatter settlements are linked to economic costs. Given the informal economy present within these communities, the level of income and wealth is among the lowest, which results in general squalor, crime, lack of social services, and decadence.

Squatter settlements also negatively impact the environment. With the unplanned, ad-hoc nature of these communities, the environment is affected due to the lack of environmental impact assessments, building and planning permits, and public-private collaboration in the planning process. Things such as waste disposal, environmental impact, safety considerations, etc are usually of no consequence.

Considering that the Government owns a substantial portion of unused land, and the National Land Agency has been leading the charge to regularise land titles, local and central government and the National Land Agency could collaborate to regularise settlements that have negligible environmental impact, and relocate and regularise settlements along sensitive areas, such as flood plains, hills with steep gradients, gullies, mangroves, among other prohibited areas. Steps could also be taken to give the citizens proper skills and incentivise businesses to hire them or provide support, financial and otherwise, for them to start their own businesses so that they can afford to pay mortgages, property taxes, and utilities.

Marcus White

whitemarc918@gmail.com