Catching up with Reality – the informal settlement challenge in the Caribbean

1. Catching up with Reality– the informal settlement challenge in the Caribbean Robin Rajack Presentation at the International Conference on the Built Environment – Kingston, Jamaica August 3rd 2005

2. ‘we the people’ • “While the wise men rumble and fight for their souls, we the people have always been ahead of our leaders” David Rudder, 1989

3. Caribbean Population Reality (source: World Development Indicators 2005)

4. Caribbean Population Reality (cont’d)

5. Caribbean Income Poverty Reality

6. Electricity Water Sanitation Caribbean Tertiary Infrastructure Reality

7. Access to Electricity (Source: World Bank, 2005)

8. Electricity Investment Requirements(Source: World Bank, 2005)

9. Access to Improved Water(Source: World Bank, 2005)

10. Water Investment Requirements(Source: World Bank, 2005)

11. Access to Improved Sanitation(Source: World Bank, 2005)

12. Caribbean Informal Settlement Reality • Informal Settlers are numerous; not a renegade few • Jamaica: Estimated 595 sites, 75% on State land • Trinidad: Estimated 250 informal settlements on State land; 23,000 households applied for regularisation. Similar number may be on private lands • Guyana: Estimated 215 sites, almost half of which deemed ‘zero-tolerance sites’ • Informal settlement also a significant issue in Haiti, Grenada, Bahamas, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis etc.

13. Caribbean Informal Settlement Reality (cont’d) • Many informal settlements are well established - 2/3 informal settlements in Jamaica are >10yrs old - 2/3 informal settlers in Trinidad have been on site > 10yrs old

14. What it boils down to • We cannot expect to compete effectively with the informal sector in the delivery of shelter if we continue to operate with cumbersome procedures, unrealistic standards, disjointed and unwieldy organisations, overly conservative approaches to the use of public land and highly incomplete data. • We need to catch up!

15. Data has to catch up • Many gaps for Caribbean countries in the World Development Indicators 2005 • Census data typically does not give much insight into informal settlements (ownership of house equated with owner-occupier) • Land information gaps also on account of dated land information management systems • Many nuances not detected by routine data collection

16. Data has to catch up (cont’d) • Value of existing satellite images and aerial photos not adequately extracted • Real Estate data not systematically available and not routinely used in public-sector led land-use decisions

17. Land Supply has to catch up • Historical roots in land ownership distribution inequity • Regulation of land markets and land development • Taxation of vacant land as an instrument • Public land ownership and withholding of land

18. State Land Ownership in the Caribbean

19. Infrastructure has to catch up While in most cases national infrastructure service levels are relatively high, levels are significantly lower in pockets of informal settlement Outdoor pit-latrines are the main toilet facilities in informal settlements in Jamaica and Trinidad (approx 70%) Roads in informal settlements are typically unpaved

20. Infrastructure has to catch up (cont’d) Data on water and electricity access are deficient but levels of servicing in informal settlements are perceived to be well below national averages Predominant building material for housing in informal settlements is board

21. Institutional Frameworks have to catch up • Institutional Frameworks include: • Laws • Regulations • Procedures • Instruments • Standards • Customs • Organisational Structures

22. Institutional Frameworks have to catch up (cont’d) • Move toward incremental development of infrastructure • Move toward the self-help methodology for project implementation • Recognizing the form and function of Family land ownership • Starter Standards manual from Jamaica • Sou-Sou Land model from Trinidad

23. Organisational Structures have to catch up • Recent institutional experiments in land administration • Jamaica – National Land Agency • Guyana – Lands and Surveys Commission • Trinidad – Land Settlement Agency

24. Organisational Structures have to catch up (cont’d) • Trinidad – Land Settlement Agency • Move toward direct power and responsibility for the entire recruitment process • Move toward direct power and responsibility for the entire procurement process • Move toward an executive (working) board • Move toward higher compensation and non-monetary rewards

25. Procurement reforms in Trinidad

26. Instruments have to catch up • Instruments should be tailored to the specific interest or freedom for which there is a demand • e.g. Move from conventional to incremental tenure in Trinidad (Certificate of Comfort, Statutory Lease, Deed of Lease); many others in Payne 2002 • Instruments should be flexible to adapt to changing reality • e.g. Leasehold that converts to freehold after 20 yrs in Trinidad sugar industry housing program

27. Reforms and Development Results in Trinidad

28. Resources have to catch up With the right incentives settlers will bring their own-resources to bear on their housing needs (evidence from Trinidad) Scope to better mobilize remittances into institutionalised housing finance Political will is key

29. Regularisation Guidelines • Guideline 1: Regularisation Programs should include incremental paths to the attainment of their goals

30. Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d) • Guideline 2: The implementing Agency for regularization programs should be equipped with sufficient autonomy and institutional freedom to respond efficiently to the dynamics of informality

31. Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d) • Guideline 3: The implementing methodology for regularization programs should entail closely coordinated multi-disciplinary interventions

32. Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d) • Guideline 4: Large-scale regularization programs should be governed by legislation

33. Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d) • Guideline 5: Regularisation programmes should be based on conservative estimates of short and medium-term revenue increases.

34. Some Key Questions • What is the most appropriate strategy for bringing State land into play? • How do we reconcile the need for more appropriate building and infrastructure standards with environmental and hazard mitigation concerns? • How can the tenure security of informal settlers be increased without the State losing its leverage to provide high-value infrastructure services and redevelopment options in prime locations?