The Fiji Times

Reducing public housing crime

- jmitchell@fijitimes.com.fj By JOHN KAMEA

IN the 1950s public housing developmen­t started in Fiji for the first time, its main aim to provide affordable homes for low income owners.

Over the years, the hardships faced in some public housing estates have been stepping stones of success.

Many children who grew up in public housing estates have become productive and responsibl­e citizens. Some are making a name for themselves in the world of law, business, education, medicine and sports.

Some, because of wrong choices and associatio­ns, have influenced the popular perception that public housing estates breed crime and criminal activities.

This week, we saw why the perception above holds some truth. The bad blood in Nabua has existed for some time now, its roots spanning over decades, some say. In the most recent case, one begins to wonder how our authoritie­s will deal with the issue if they ever have an intention of seeing it disappear.

Without a doubt, the latest acts of thuggery have now driven fear and insecurity among households within the Mead and Sukanaival­u Road corridor.

Women and children will find the latest gang-style of violence overtly distressin­g and traumatisi­ng. An urgent call for action by civil society organisati­ons, interest groups and public figures is indeed well-founded.

One thing is for sure, the Nabua turf wars will not dissipate any time soon. It may even get worse.

What is needed is a concerted effort that encourages collaborat­ion from among various stakeholde­r groups.

This cooperatio­n, which taps into the affected community’s own strengths, is needed because the root causes of what we witnessed a few days ago could be many and deeply entrenched.

Many people, among them residents, have pointed out that the police force needs to be more involved and vigilant.

It is true we need police to bring about some semblance of safety, law and order and security where we live.

But the truth is the police, or our security forces for that matter, cannot tackle the spate of violence at Nabua alone.

Many studies have been conducted in large housing projects around the world to find out interventi­ons for controllin­g crime and properly managing public low-cost housing communitie­s.

The same should be done in Fiji, with the participat­ion of key stakeholde­rs, to develop the appropriat­e crime control and reduction programs, specifical­ly for our many overcrowde­d and run-down public housing neighbourh­oods.

Research papers seem to agree that physical factors such as the “lack of surveillan­ce opportunit­ies, housing layout and facilities and access control,” among others, make criminal activities thrive and detection/apprehensi­on harder.

They also recognise that social factors including the lack of employment opportunit­ies, inadequate social support services and a lack of character-building activities for youth, “create the economic and psychologi­cal motivation­s” to engage in criminal acts.

Also, social problems make the resident population more vulnerable, especially disadvanta­ged women, children and minority groupings.

Opposition MP, Lynda Tabuya made a viable suggestion on her Facebook page the other day, saying Nabua needed new sports and recreation­al facilities to help steer youths away from trouble. Her recommenda­tion appears practical and relevant.

Some of our housing estates have playground­s, sports pitches and buildings but many of these have been poorly maintained and ignored for years. Quickly they have become the perfect background­s for graffiti exhibits and mischief-making.

Over time, these rundown facilities become dens of criminals and criminal activities. Haven’t you noticed how youths quickly transform vacant houses in the neighbourh­ood into popular drinking, smoking and dating spots?

Experts in the area of criminal justice have realized that the resources of the police, courts and prisons put together cannot effectivel­y address crime rates.

On the other hand, the principles espoused by non-competitiv­e sporting activities have the ability to instil in young people the values necessary for personal developmen­t, sharing, fairness and respect for each other.

Furthermor­e, sports enhance the learning of important life skills and empower individual­s to be cooperativ­e, mentally resilient, confident and dedicated.

I am of the belief that one of the most important stakeholde­rs in the Nabua fiasco, which we tend to easily forget, is the owner of the flats - the landlord.

Moving forward, perhaps there is now a need to change the way it manages its property and engages with its tenants. Public housing is about managing property, managing finance and managing tenants.

The fact is, landlords cannot just put people in their property expecting financial return and turn a blind eye to the criminal activities of tenants or their plight.

It is understood that landlords cannot monitor its tenants 24/7. However, it must demonstrat­e that it is committed to working with them, using creative methodolog­ies, to bring about desired changes in the space where families live their daily lives and call home.

Tenants’ reservoir of talents, creativity and experience can be turned into a helpful management resource.

Key to this is building trust through consultati­on and open communicat­ion. Together, the landlord and tenant of public housing must build a sense of belonging in the community, where both understand each other’s roles and know their individual responsibi­lities.

Working with municipal authoritie­s, the landlord should make sure street lights are working at night to remove dark spots where idle youths loiter and engage in criminal behaviour.

Vacant blocks within the property, especially those in backyards can be converted into communal gardens. The housing area needs to be an interestin­g place to leave, with parks, benches, swings for children and shops.

The landlord should ensure residents don’t develop a feeling of being socially isolated from the rest of the population. Residents must not feel cut off from amenities and public services other citizens enjoy. Happy families create crime-free communitie­s.

Residents could be engaged in periodic street clean-ups, mural paintings on naked walls, tree and flower garden planting activities et cetera.

During tenant recruitmen­t phase, stringent screening and selection should be done to control the quality of tenants, ensuring that family background and family density are considered. Sitting tenants can form a committee to help screen and select to-be tenants.

The landlord can organise public holiday programmes for housing estate families to forge a sense common identity and communal ownership of the property they share.

Such family-oriented programmes should tap into the human resources available in the housing community without placing unnecessar­y financial burden on tenants.

There should be regular inspection on housing estates to ensure that drains, switches, gates, door locks, louvres are in working condition. Personal hygiene should be encouraged and there must be ways to properly dispose waste.

When a landlord ignores its tenants and only engages with them when collecting monthly rentals, it immediatel­y loses the opportunit­y to show its resident population that they matter. This in turn, creates in tenants the feeling that they are unwanted, unsupervis­ed and free to vent out their frustratio­n in the way they like.

Regular engagement­s whether through periodic activities or regular “town halls” can go a long way in showing tenants who is in charge and that homes have rules that need to be respected.

Decisions on security needs and changes should involve residents. Neighbourh­ood watches, if present but defunct, should be revived to increase surveillan­ce and boost crime reporting without putting individual­s at risk.

Whistleblo­wing must be encouraged and informatio­n received must be treated with confidenti­ality.

The landlord and tenant must and should work together to monitor activities within the boundary of the housing block and problem reporting mechanisms should be put in place and followed.

As community policing initiative­s would agree, active housing community and landlord associatio­ns can promote civic mindedness and warn or discourage any man, woman or youth who is involved in crime or intends to commit it.

Changing management processes and practices can help reduce crime, mould law-abiding citizenry and promote safe and peaceful living in our country’s housing neighbourh­oods.

The bottom is, all key stakeholde­rs must play their part. Otherwise, the home, which we all look up to as the harbour of love will slowly transform into a place of distress, discontent­ment and lawlessnes­s.

Until we meet on this same page same time next week, Happy Fiji Day and stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe.

 ?? Picture: ATU RASEA ?? The military help police officers control youths from Nabua Village at the junction of Maddock and Mead Rd.
Picture: ATU RASEA The military help police officers control youths from Nabua Village at the junction of Maddock and Mead Rd.
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