HDC, politics and people

ON Thursday, officials from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) visited the Tarodale development in San Fernando.

The brightly coloured houses there are built on pillars to compensate for the rolling slope of the ground, in one of the HDC’s more picturesque efforts at building freestanding homes for low- to middle-income earners.

That picture turned ugly as the corporation sought to collect a total of $747,874.48 owed by residents, while also addressing contractual breaches, which included illegal occupancy after the death of the original tenant and sub-leasing or passing the property to relatives.

In some cases, payments had not been made since 2008.

Sabrina Mc Leod was the headline story in the eviction exercise – a woman with seven children, including a newborn, who pleaded with HDC representatives to halt the eviction. She offered $25,000 in cash, quickly raised by her husband’s employer, against the $60,000 she owed.

Dragging the contents of a household onto the pavement is never a good look, though the HDC said all the tenants targeted for eviction had previously received two warnings of their infringements before action was taken.

The news stirred concern from San Fernando East MP Brian Manning, who said rather huffily that he had not been advised of the evictions.

Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis later announced that the eviction drive had been halted.

Public housing in TT has been inextricably tied to politics since the founding of the National Housing Authority in 1962, with a charter to redevelop urban areas with suitable low-income housing and to clear slums.

Both missions are in doubt in 2023.

The HDC took an unexplained turn into upscale housing over the last three decades – while slums that date back to the NHA’s founding still exist.

Habitat for Humanity, which addresses the lowest end of the HDC’s mission, reports that there are more than 60,000 squatter families living in 313 informal settlements. Basic rights and needs are still not being met.

Compassion and concern are inextricably part of the concept of public housing initiatives. Tenants are likely to need coaching in financial management, flexible payment plans; and the state needs to make more consistent efforts to ensure extreme actions like last week’s can be avoided.

A dovetailing of state social services with the HDC’s collection and tenancy issues might be one solution.

It’s clear that a hard line doesn’t work well for anyone. The country needs more of its citizens safely placed in safe homes. Nobody benefits from couches and stoves on the pavement, though rival politicians thrive on the bacchanal.

The HDC needs tenants who respect its rules and meet their commitments. A free-for-all is absurd and unsustainable.

A more effective, yet more humane solution is needed.