Floyd Morris | Operation PRIDE created homeowners, not squatters

Since its formation in 1938, the People’s National Party (PNP) has been at the forefront of advocating and providing land for the landless. After the abolition of slavery, the newly freed slaves in Jamaica were compelled to seize Crown properties and marginal lands outside of the plantations as no compensation was given with their freedom as was done with the plantation owners.

The practice of land capture has continued today as a direct response to continued landlessness and inadequate access to opportunities for the over 600,000 Jamaicans who are estimated to be living in informal settlements.

Though the country still has a long way to go, it must be made pellucid that most of the opportunities for land ownership have been championed by the PNP. These include but are not limited to the implementation of Operation PRIDE (Programme for Resettlement and Integrated Development Enterprise) in the 1990s and the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) in the 2000s; the amendment of the Registration of Titles Act, which made it possible for adverse possession; and the Facilities for Titles Act. Under the latter, the PNP sought to give security of tenure to people who did not have titles for lands they possessed, for example, the Clifton Lands.

OPERATION PRIDE

In 1994, the PNP, under the P. J. Patterson-led government, implemented Operation PRIDE was launched with the understanding that making land accessible and affordable to the landless is the key to solving the issue of “squatting”. Operation PRIDE was, therefore, an appropriate response, the objectives of which included:

• the resolution of the shelter needs of low-income Jamaicans through the establishment of newly planned settlements;

• the upgrading of existing settlements;

• the improvement of environmental and public health conditions in settlements throughout the country; and

• the mobilisation of resources in the informal sector towards their own improvement, employment creation, and national development.

Though Operation PRIDE had limitations, as is the case with every innovation, the PNP will not allow the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to deliberately misguide the public on a programme that had a monumental impact on the lives of many Jamaicans. The benefits to the citizens far outweighed the limitations as thousands of Jamaicans now own homes and a piece of this blessed rock.

Operation PRIDE was established based on research, deep analysis, and sound planning with officers who became missionaries to the cause of uplifting their fellow Jamaicans. Resultantly, 58,000 lots were delivered to individuals across the 14 parishes. Through this initiative, the PNP, instead of demolishing homes and forcefully uprooting people, sought to gradually develop infrastructure in the areas that the relevant authorities deemed fit for habitation.

As the opposition spokesperson on housing and sustainable living, I wish to state unequivocally that under no circumstances did PRIDE create squatting as was suggested by JLP operatives. It is a hyperbolic, diatribical, and ecologically fallacious statement. It is a lie from the pit of hell and must be jettisoned.

For Operation PRIDE, we identified informal settlements and moved to improve and regularise their undignified circumstances islandwide. None of these communities is controlled by “Comrades” as some misguided individuals would want to claim. One glaring success story that even the blind can see is that of Melrose Mews in Manchester.

The area was known as Settlement prior to PRIDE. People who had been kicked off bauxite lands, as well as entire towns, found sanctuary there. The makeshift homes at Settlement had roofs made from the sulphate waste of bauxite and had no potable water or sewerage disposal. Now, Melrose Mews is a flourishing working-class neighbourhood as a result of PRIDE’s prodigious work.

NOTEWORTHY LOCATIONS

Other noteworthy locations are the Pines of Karachi, where dedicated public officials were offered the chance to purchase land. There are approximately 70 other locations, including Langston Court Apartments, Portmore Villas, Dinthill, Goldsmith Villas, Harbour Heights, Wentworth, Oak Glades, and Mandela Mews.

It is important to note that the JLP has been in power for 11 of the last 15 years and has very little to show as it pertains to providing opportunities for Jamaicans to own a piece of this land that belongs to all of us. In fact, I challenge them to show one major programme that they have put in place to deal with the historical injustices that were imposed on the black masses of Jamaica.

The policy trajectory of the JLP to evict and demolish the houses of citizens without due process and to provide the already wealthy with thousands of acres of arable lands for commercial purposes, which further drives the inequalities in the society, has been conspicuous.

The PNP has always put people at the forefront of policies and will continue to lobby for the rights of Jamaicans. We respect the Constitution and are deeply committed to upholding and protecting its provisions. We do not believe that the Executive should be the judge, jury, and executioner in matters of national importance.

From what I have postulated above, it is luminous that the PNP and the JLP are not the same. We have distinguished ourselves in so many ways. Housing and land are just two ways. We emphatically and categorically stand by our track record on housing and land. We have made mistakes in the past and have corrected some of them, but it is human to err and devilish to lie. The JLP must recognise this.

Senator Floyd Morris, PhD is the Opposition Spokesman on Housing and Sustainable Living. Send feedback to morrisfloyd@gmail.com.