Catching up with Reality

– the informal settlement challenge in the Caribbean

Robin Rajack

Presentation at the International Conference on the Built Environment –

Kingston, JamaicaAugust 3rd 2005

‘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

Caribbean Population Reality (source: World Development Indicators 2005)

Country Total Pop. Pop. Density

Pop. Growth Rate

Antigua & Barb. 78580 179 2.7

Aruba 99000 521 -

Bahamas, The 317413 23 1.1

Barbados 270584 629 0.4

Belize 273700 12 3.2

Bermuda 64482 1290 0.3

Cayman Islands 42000 162 -

Cuba 11326000 102 0.7

Dominica 71213 95 0.2

Dominican Repub. 8738639 179 1.5

Caribbean Population Reality (cont’d)

Grenada 104600 308 1.1

Guyana 768888 4 0.4

Haiti 8439799 304 1.8

Jamaica 2642628 240 0.8

St. Kitts and Nevis 46710 130 0.0

St. Lucia 160588 259 0.9

St. Vincent & the Grenada. 109164 280 0.0

Trinidad & Tobago 1312664 256 0.7

Virgin Islands(U.S.) 111584 328 1.2

Latin America & Carib. 532743800 26 1.4

World 6272522000 47 1.2

Caribbean Income Poverty Reality

COUNTRY YEAR% BELOWPOV. LINE

 POVERTY GAP

BARBADOS 1997 14 NA

BELIZE 1996 33 8.7

GRENADA 1999 32 15.3

GUYANA 1999 35 12.4

JAMAICA 2001 17 NA

NEVIS 2000 32 2.8

ST. KITTS 2000 31 2.5

ST. LUCIA 1996 25 8.6

ST. VINCENT & GRENADA 1996 38 12.6

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1992 21 NA

TURKS & CAICOS 1999 26 5.7

Caribbean Tertiary Infrastructure Reality

Electricity

Water

Sanitation

Access to Electricity (Source: World Bank, 2005)

Electricity Investment Requirements (Source: World Bank, 2005)

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

Water Investment Requirements (Source: World Bank, 2005)

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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

State Land Ownership in the Caribbean

Country Approx. State land Owner-ship

Remarks

Trinidad &Tobago >50% About half in forest

Antigua &Barbuda >40%

Dominica >45% Mostly forest

St. Kitts and Nevis >80%

Jamaica <20%

Grenada 10%

Barbados <1%

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

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

Institutional Frameworks have to catch up• Institutional Frameworks include:

– Laws

– Regulations

– Procedures

– Instruments

– Standards

– Customs

– Organisational Structures

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

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

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

Procurement reforms in Trinidad

Agency Average Time Between Invitation of Contractor and Contractor Taking Possession of Site

LSA 3-7 weeks

PEU 13-18 weeks+ a further 9-13 weeks for Chief State Solicitor to prepare contract if contractor is unable or unwilling to mobilize without contract.

SRU 6-9 weeks

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

Reforms and Development Results in Trinidad

households with upgraded infrastruct.

households with upgraded tenure

New serviced lots for landless households

SRU (1987-1999)

700(7 sites)

20 (1 site)

Not a formal part of SRU mandate.

SRU Expenses US$5.1Mn - -

PEU (1990-1999)

1800(9 sites)

0 4800

PEU Expenses US$7.3Mn - US$26.7 Mn

LSA (June 1999-June 2001)

1800(25 sites)

950(20 sites)

600

LSA Expenses US$3.1Mn US$0.2Mn US$1.7Mn

Resources have to catch up

With the right incentives settlers will bring theirown-resources to bear on their housing needs (evidencefrom Trinidad)

Scope to better mobilize remittances into institutionalisedhousing finance

Political will is key

Regularisation Guidelines

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

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

Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d)

• Guideline 3: The implementing methodology for regularization programs should entail closely coordinated multi-disciplinary interventions

Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d)

• Guideline 4: Large-scale regularization programs should be governed by legislation

Regularisation Guidelines (cont’d)

• Guideline 5: Regularisation programmes should be based on conservative estimates of short and medium-term revenue increases.

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?