Kumar: Hard to monitor slum lords

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Kumar: Hard to monitor slum lords

THE absence of a register of legal landlords is creating a complex situation in regards to slum lords and informal settlements.

The Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development, Premila Kumar, said in Parliament last week it was hard to monitor and register slum lords.

“I would like to mention here that whenever we acquire development lease, the ministry conducts a socio-economic survey,” she said.

“This is done and the socio-economic survey data is collected and kept. “But what I would like to say now is that we need a lot more expertise in collecting such data.”

She said the ministry would be conducting socio-economic surveys with the assistance of UN Habitat of Fiji after which this database would be formed.

“So all those 43 areas where we have acquired the development lease, fresh surveys will be conducted with a wider scope.

“The data collected will allow the ministry to capture accurate social and spatial information and, at the same time, the ministry will collect information on tenancy arrangement, if any, within the informal settlement.”

Mrs Kumar said in terms of the issue with the slum lord supplying water and electricity illegally to other tenants, the responsibility did not lie with the Ministry of Housing.

“We have got Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) and we have Energy Fiji Ltd (EFL), so they take that responsibility head on.

“To begin with, anyone living in an informal settlement, as you know, they are living there illegally.

“In fact, previously, water and electricity was not provided to the settlements. But it was under this Government that water and electricity was being provided through letters that the Ministry of Housing wrote on their behalf.”

She emphasised that in relation to any form of stealing of water and electricity supply, the matter was the responsibility of WAF and EFL.

Regarding illegal squatters, she said it could be made legal, provided these people had the development lease.

“And as I said previously and I had mentioned it several times that we have more than 250 squatter settlements and the recent count has shown that it is actually over 300 squatter settlements that we have around Fiji.”

According to the minister, after acquiring the development lease, Government would have to develop the area and give the squatters the title.

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