Housing regulations in TT

[Falcon]

It is a tragedy that we could not have this discussion in a proactive setting, but let's have it late nevertheless.

What has the housing Ministry been doing all these years up to the day before yesterday? Is it just about the stats of how many houses built, and how many votes you can get next time?

What has the PP housing minister been up to since he got the job? How could no one in the situation (the ministry) have given consideration to MINIMUM STANDARD international building regulations?!
Even Rowley this morning will say

"It is not something that you can place blame on the last architect because this building was built over 50 years ago ... the building here would have passed the building codes then," .........but you inspect cars yearly, you inspect properties for taxes, you inspect houses to see if they breeding mosquitoes....how in the world there are no regulations in a state sponsored housing complex?!?!

We need to start tightening up things, honestly. Stop using this excuse about people ent have money to come up to scratch. The government have plenty money. If the private citizens ent have money they could check vaio and dem who does give grants.

This is part of a bigger problem like car seats and the like, bit I hope I can limit my discussion to the housing issue.

No fire escapes in almost 2012!!??
Somebody have to be taking people in Trinidad for a big joke.
This country can't run a successful democracy.

[Solachica]

And people saying fire escapes wud be easy access for bandits

[Solachica]

I wonder is the newer housing buildings have fire escape.

Vaio, your big office building have fire excape?

[Falcon]

Community activist Natasha Arcia said she personally penned several letters to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) calling for the shortcoming to be addressed.Their pleas fell on deaf ears.

guardian, today

[greall]

guardian, today

Ohh...

Well...most of the new buildings in TT [private or public] don't even have adequate parking much less fire escapes...every bit of land must be built on...

I would think that the big brouhaha over HSE compliance would've dealt with this but then again...

Greg

[Solachica]

You know how many govt offices wud be shut down if they follow osh

[Falcon]

you know how many govt offices wud be shut down if they follow osh

e x a c t l y

[vaio]

I wonder is the newer housing buildings have fire escape.

Vaio, your big office building have fire excape?

This is soo sad, i cried when i heard what happened to those people esp the kids who couldn't help themselves

The newer buildings have but all the older buildings have no fire escape - its jus one way in and one way out The HDC has to take all blame for this. Imagine government after government and nobody looking to upgrade these buildings.

My office has fire escape and we also put in place some widows on the ground floor that can be use a quick exits.

Doh start to talk about OSHA because if you make a report, yuh hear about how severely understaffed they are and how they can't investigate cases

[Solachica]

So many qualified people tht they cud hire. Ah looking for wuk

[bigzack]

Stop building these apartments and chicken coops for "so called" poor people and lumping them all in one place like they have done in Trou Macaque, Morvant, Maloney, Beetham, Waterhole, and other places.

If the government wants to continue helping so called poor people with housing, have private housing developers build one low rental apartment in each new housing development. Spread them out, so that the people in these low rental apartments will have no choice but to conform to the community standards set by the mortgage holders or people paying market rate rents in the development.

Continuing to lump all these so called poor people in "projects" as they did back in the 60s in Brooklyn, Washington DC, Baltimore and other places, is asking for the same crime problems and social deviance that these places have been experiencing from then till now.

Why are we so chupid in our little banana kleptocracy? Why can't we look at what is not working in foreign and run far away from it as possible?

Or is it that we have to continue fattening Elias and we other party financiers?

[greall]

You know how many govt offices wud be shut down if they follow osh

OSHA had to move out of their own headquarters because of HSE issues so...

Greg

[Solachica]

[vaio]

how sad it that!

[Falcon]

Stop building these apartments and chicken coops for "so called" poor people and lumping them all in one place like they have done in Trou Macaque, Morvant, Maloney, Beetham, Waterhole, and other places.

If the government wants to continue helping so called poor people with housing, have private housing developers build one low rental apartment in each new housing development. Spread them out, so that the people in these low rental apartments will have no choice but to conform to the community standards set by the mortgage holders or people paying market rate rents in the development.

Continuing to lump all these so called poor people in "projects" as they did back in the 60s in Brooklyn, Washington DC, Baltimore and other places, is asking for the same crime problems and social deviance that these places have been experiencing from then till now.

Why are we so chupid in our little banana kleptocracy? Why can't we look at what is not working in foreign and run far away from it as possible?

Or is it that we have to continue fattening Elias and we other party financiers?

co-signed.

[greall]

To be devil's advocate here,the whole reason why there seems to be a proliferation of the 'gated communities' is to keep the riff raff out...#justsaying

Greg

[Redman]

To be devil's advocate here,the whole reason why there seems to be a proliferation of the 'gated communities' is to keep the riff raff out...#justsaying

Greg

Riff raff??-You have a fence around your yard?
your business?

Thats harsh-the fact is that the consumer wants an element of safety-that the security apparatus has uniformly been unable to provide.
A gated community provides an element of that.


And it the most efficient way to maximize return on a given piece of land

Later

[bigzack]

To be devil's advocate here,the whole reason why there seems to be a proliferation of the 'gated communities' is to keep the riff raff out...#justsaying
Greg

And I fully understand that sentiment.

However, if they institute a policy where private developers can be encouraged (through subsidies etc) to build one low rental apartment in a private housing development, there can be strict, rigidly enforced conditions attached to the rental agreement.

Conditions could exist, such as strict enforcement of the number of people on a lease allowed to live in an apartment. Noise levels need to be adhered to, failing which, after so many warnings renters will be evicted. On the first instance of an illegal possession of, or trafficking, in drugs, in the apartment or the surroundings, yuh backside gorn.

[Falcon]

no, you still treating them 'special'

they must be held to the standard of the other residents; no more no less

[shield_2006]

short memoryitis!!!

zack--yuh forget when Manning propose dat they say all kinda thing--how he planning to douglarise the nation and transplanting votes?

[bigzack]

no, you still treating them 'special'

they must be held to the standard of the other residents; no more no less

Allright, yuh right.

[bigzack]

short memoryitis!!!

zack--yuh forget when Manning propose dat they say all kinda thing--how he planning to douglarise the nation and transplanting votes?

That is the biggest problem with Trinidad.

It have people that want to born in one place, grow in the same place, and dead in the same place.

In we little banana kleptocracy, people need lasik vision correction, not Vision 2020.

[edyle]

Re Housing Ministry.
The Housing Ministry is about vote padding electioneering; and even if it isn't, it will be.
What countries in the world have something like a Ministry of Housing?

Re House regulations.
I think that would fall under Town and Country Planning?

[bigzack]

Re Housing Ministry.
The Housing Ministry is about vote padding electioneering; and even if it isn't, it will be.
What countries in the world have something like a Ministry of Housing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...an_Development

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.

[shield_2006]

what is even worse about that post--

is the stats--

about the amount of people who can not afford private sector housing and apply to the HDC for homes that are attempted to be built at an economic price---and the extent of the squatting problem in the country and sub standard homes.

I saw a billboard on the highway recently where the HDC indicates qualifying income of $15K for certain houses--and at a 12.50 minimum wage--which so many employers love---it is unlikely that we can realistically treat with this issue.

This is of course compounded by our traditional construction methods and the material prices--and the historically questionable issue of land ownership in this country.

BUT--despite the fact that the units which were burnt were built so long ago--it would seem appropriate for them to have been retrofitted to modern standards.

There was a news report recently about some untis in John John which are completely dilapidated and required demolition but which are still inhabited--they are made of wood externally--and it would be tragic if one of these were to also be affected by fire.

But then again--there was the project to build the housing East of South Quay--but I suspect that too has died on the political table---indeed I believe some part of the site is being used to outflow water from the drainage in Port of Spain.

And we get the knee jerk---politicians galore handing out gifts--for now--until the photo op is a memory

Round and Round the Mulberry Bush--round and round we go--where we will stop nobody knows.

Then we re-locate the people to Oropune--fine--they need shelter--but when school opens--what then? how are they traveling? what about the new expense? how does it affect their employment with the new costs? and on and on-------

where we will stop---anybody's guess?

I suppose you can revert to----HOPE--it may be all that's left

[Solachica]

So wht wrong with if I born one place and want to stay one place