Rent Protection Act amended after 70 years
After 70 years Suriname has been given amended legislation regarding houses that are used for rental purposes. 29 legislators voted in favor of the modern legislation and the legal foundation for the establishment of a Rent Committee that will act as a watchdog when it comes to leasing agreements. The legislators from the General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP) refrained from casting their votes while the rest of the opposition voted with reservation. Critical comments were placed under the new law as the Progressive Reform Party (VHP), the National Party Suriname (NPS), the party for Democracy and Development in Unity (DOE) and Pertjajah Luhur claimed that it provides insufficient guarantees to vulnerable groups. MP Mahinder Jogi (VHP) explained that good leadership will be needed to enforce the laws in an effective manner.
MP Carl Breeveld (DOE) hopes that the Rent Committee will actually be established especially given the fact that the establishment of other committees such as the Anti-Corruption Committee has not happened yet. The new law reportedly offers more guarantees regarding the legal certainties of tenants and landlords. Tenants can’t be evicted in a sudden manner but must in some cases be given 8 months to find another place and move out.
Landlords are also given guarantees as they no longer have to take legal action to reclaim their houses. If tenants do not stick to the period of notice, they can be evicted. That is the part of the law that the ABOP faction deemed unacceptable. The ABOP legislators explained that there is not enough housing to meet the demand and that this measure will hit the poor people in particularly.
“If one is not careful, there could be social eruption. ABOP is here for the poor. That is why we can’t support a law that puts all the poor people we work for on the street,” said MP Marinus Bee, acting leader of the ABOP faction. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons (NDP), spokesperson of the legislators who handed in the new legislation, is aware of the fact that rented houses can become affordable for the most vulnerable groups if the housing issue is addressed. “We are working towards building more houses for more people,” said Geerlings-Simons .