Squatter settlements a hive of alleged illegal activities that need to be dealt with

The report about the illegal sale of houses in squatter settlements with the promise of future land ownership is the latest in a growing list of illegal activities in the informal settlements. Illegal water and electricity connections plus illegal businesses have been widely talked about.

The cases that have just been exposed are said to be the tip of the iceberg. It has also been alleged that some residents have accumulated wealth and invested in property and other types of businesses outside the settlements but choose to remain in informal settlements and build their savings.

Now, the Permanent Secretary for Housing, Sanjeeva Perera, has made it clear that it is illegal to sell houses in informal settlements. The transactions have been sweetened by a promise that the buyers will also own the land titles after the allocation of lots in new resettlement projects for relocated squatters . Mr Perera said it would be means tested. It’s an appropriate initiative that will rule out those who do not deserve it and then channel the assistance to others who really neeed it.

It is scandalous to illegally make money by taking advantage of the lack of monitoring and scrutiny of some of the settlements and the unfortunate circumstances of squatters.

Making a quick buck through selfish and illegal transactions is a crime and those who are allegedly involved must be brought to justice.

The building of structures on State land without any proper authorisation was illegal from the beginning. Previous governments before FijiFirst had not done enough to deal with the squatter problem.

As a result it has inherited this burden and started a proper programme to resettle squatters and give them a leg up.

Squatter settlements have evolved since they first sprang up as a solution to give landless and homeless people a place where they can live, work and study in mainly urban centres. They were allowed to grow and expand instead of being dismantled on humanitarian grounds. Some squatters have done extremely well building their fortunes from nothing. They have become landlords and rented out their houses in and outside the settlements.

Settlements have become a favourite target of some politicians before a general election and they tend to be forgotten after the election.

The FijiFirst Government’s commitment to give squatters a new hope in life is the first substantive move by any government to give squatters the opportunity to legally own a property. This is a massive undertaking and it will take money and time to complete the exercise.

The first choice should go to squatters in real need instead of those who took advantage of the system for their personal gain at the expense of others who genuinely need help.