Land-use policy outdated, useless

THE EDITOR: Recently, we read that 30 people who were illegally occupying State lands before 1998 got their “certificates of comfort” for the said lands. How unfair is this? Of course, many others received this benefit in previous years. And yes, squatting is a crime.

Also, what message does this send to the children of these people as well to the many other people looking on? That crime pays? If they can get away with it, then why not us?

Why couldn’t they be required to pay a minimal cost for the land, little by little each month, to rent, own or lease?

Why give them it for free when thousands of others have to struggle to pay rent, pay mortgages, live under pressure from family members and friends etc?

Thousands of others have to struggle to get a place to live in and up comes others and get free land.

That law must be scrapped. It encourages squatting.

Let the State provide subsidised housing if it wishes.

But why can’t it also provide free or subsidised leases to poor people as well the middle class?

The State can still own the land but people need a break from the unscrupulous prices that some people are charging for land.

All these point to an urgent need for a contemporary and forward-looking land-use policy for TT. What’s in place is grossly outdated, useless and encourages crime.

IAN RAMDHANIE via e-mail