All squatters to be regularised

[Habit7]

PM: Nothing wrong with trying to win an election
Published on Jun 4, 2015, 12:01 am AST
By Kim Boodram


“What’s wrong with trying to win an election?”

The rhetorical question was thrown out by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yester­day in Parliament, at Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, port of Spain, as she addressed criticism of her Government’s intention to amend the State Land Regularisation of Tenure (Amendment) Bill and issue letters of comfort to thousands of squatters.

The bill was passed in the Lower House yesterday by Government’s simple majority.

Persad-Bissessar said there was nothing wrong with trying to win an election and her Government went into office after winning an election, with a mandate to improve the lives of the citizenry.

The PM, who two weeks ago announced her intention to amend the bill and accommo­date thousands of State land squatters who did not qualify for security under the deadline stip- ulated by the original bill, had also promised to have the legislation ready before Parliament dissolves on June 17, 2015.

There was an argument from some that Government was rushing to pass this and other legislation, Persad-Bissessar said, but pointed out there are other examples of similar activities in the history of the Parliament.

“Everything this Government does, they say we are trying to win an election,” Persad-Bissessar said.

She said, too, the issue of squatting and regularisation was not something she “just came up with” but was a cause she had committed to even while in Opposition, before the last general election in 2010.

A birthright

Persad-Bissessar cited a speech she gave in 2007 when the gene­ral election was “in the air” and in which she promised a United National Congress (UNC) Government would not abandon the national land-use policy but would also address the plight of hundreds of squatters who she said were being ripped out of their homes by the then government, the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Persad-Bissessar also hearkened back to a legal case involving more than 100 long-term squat- ters in the Couva area who were removed from former Caroni (1975) Ltd lands by the PNM government, via the State’s Land Settlement Agency (LSA), and whose cause she took up.

That case was eventually won, though she could not herself take part after becoming Prime Minister, Persad-Bissessar said.

The law was intended to afford persons who had long tenure on lands some measure of comfort and the ability to access certain State benefits, Persad-Bissessar said, and also to give those persons a part of their birthright.

She repeated warnings made when she first announced the regu­larisation drive that Government had mapped its course and the new bill was not a means for persons to acquire lots of land around the country.

Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago with proven tenure would be entitled to one lot of land, she said.

Government has identified up to 451 more squatter sites for processing, Persad-Bissessar said, in addition to more than 200 previous sites, making the drive a massive exercise.

She also said it was “not true” the law would accommodate persons squatting illegally on large parcels on land for business purposes.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150604 ... n-election

[nos_specialist]

poor people get free, rich ppl can buy

the middle class gets raped..level

[RASC]

poor people get free, rich ppl can buy

the middle class gets raped..level

This govt has always been anti middle class.

[zoom rader]

poor people get free, rich ppl can buy

the middle class gets raped..level

This govt has always been anti middle class.

What BS to taking about again.
Under the PNM the middle class was almost wiped out.

Just as PNM enslaved the lower income classes they was pressing to enslave the middle class with high and unfair housing tax. Everything under PNM is some sort of tax where the tax payers never benefit.

[Habit7]

What BS to taking about again.
Under the PNM the middle class was almost wiped out.

By World Bank measurement: Most of T&T's labour force is middle class

Aleem Khan
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2012



By World Bank standards, almost the entire working population of T&T should be earning an income that qualifies them to be included in the country's middle class.

In a report released Tuesday, entitled “Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class”the World Bank said that the income definition of the middle class in Latin America and the Caribbean is between US$10 and US$50 per day. That works out between $64 and $320 per day.

In 2011, the government increased T&T's minimum wage to $12.50 per hour which works out to be $100 per day and US$15.62 per day. This means that even a worker earning the minimum wage in T&T's formal employment sector qualifies to be included in the country's middle class, according to the World Bank metric.

At US$15.62 a day, T&T's minimum wage is 50 per cent higher than the lowest threshold of the World Bank definition of middle class. T&T has a population of approximately 1.3 million and a workforce of 616,400 as at December 2011, according to the Review of the Economy published by the Ministry of Finance in 2012.

At the previous minimum wage of $9 per hour, most of the country's working population would still qualify to be included in the middle class. The $12.50 per hour minimum wage came into effect in T&T in 2011. The previous minimum wage of $9 per hour came into effect in 2005. Prior to that, the national minimum wage was $7 per hour, in effect since 2003. Therefore prior to 2005, minimum wage earners would not have qualified as middle class using the World Bank standard.

Still, according to the World Bank, T&T enjoyed the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean during the period 2000 to 2010. (See Figure 3.)

The overarching claim of the report is that “after decades of stagnation, the size of the middle class in Latin America and the Caribbean recently expanded by 50 per cent — from 103 million people in 2003 to 152 million (or 30 per cent of the continent’s population) in 2009.

“Over the same period, as household incomes grew and inequality edged downward in most countries, the proportion of people in poverty fell markedly: from 44 per cent to 30 per cent. As a result, the middle class and the poor now account for roughly the same share of Latin America’s population.”This is in stark contrast to the situation prevailing “for a long period”until about 10 years ago, when the share of the poor hovered around 2.5 times that of the middle class, the World Bank said.

The study, co-authored by Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Julian Messina, Jamele Rigolini, Luis-Felipe López-Calva, Maria Ana Lugo, and Renos Vakis, “investigates the nature, determinants, and possible consequences of this remarkable process of social transformation,”the World Bank said.

The study said: “Such large changes in the size and composition of social classes must, by definition, imply substantial economic mobility of some form. A large number of people who were poor in the late 1990s are now no longer poor. Others who were not yet middle class have now joined its ranks.”

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business-guar ... ddle-class

T&T performed the best in our region in the last decade. I dont know where you were not to have noticed that.

You can fool PNM ppl with that.

This is 2015 and not the period 2000-2010.

Those histological facts don't cover the many self employed and businessmen that are middle class.

Take a look around and notice that in UNC and PP terms you see something that you don't see in PNM terms.
You see Afro pp buying land and building their own homes, plus you see Afro business growing.

[supercharged turbo]

Most squatters are too lazy to even try and uplift themselves.They always looking for handouts and community centres ram out when mic pass announcing the LSA holding ah meeting.Talking from personal experience

[nervewrecker]

So those people squatting on river banks etc going be regularised?

Saw some people squatting on a river bank in debe. Was like wtf.

Now rainy season start I waiting to hear about them in the news.

[redman24]

As a citizen I'm very disturbed by this move by the Government of the day. Every month I work hard and struggle to pay a mortgage along with other recurrent expenses that erode my disposable income. Many years I wore two jeans with two shirts a jersey and one boots to save money to have the downpayment for my home. I still sacrifice to maintain my house. I DECIDED to obey the law, I rented SACRIFICED and eventually owned my own instead of depending on the Govt. Now out of the blue the Govt just gives state land to lawbreakers for FREE.
I have no problem in the Govt improving the living conditions of persons, but not for FREE at the expense of taxpayers at least they should be made to pay a subsidized flexible fee for the land once developed. After all its taxpayers money that will be used to upgrade the lands in these areas. And to read the BS from tuners like zoomrader and others of his ilk who blindly support every single move by this Govt without being objective gets me even more angry.
Regardless of whatever good this Govt has done, my support for them has wained as they have grossly disrespected me and my family and other law abiding and constructive lower to middle class citizens who STRUGGLE and SACRIFICE every month to survive, for as they made this move to win the votes of some 60,000 squatters, they will pay the ultimate price at the hands of us 300,000 plus citizens who struggle every month to PAY our RENTS, MORTGAGES, LAND LOANS, BRIDGING FINANCE FEES, HOUSE INSURANCE ans other f@#%ing fees and charges to OWN and keep our properties legally.

[BRZ]

So peopl who have been squatting on crown lands I can see this happening, what about people who squatting on other peoples land? Will the owners be given full justified compensation ?

[redman24]

Good question....but the way things are these days the Government might offer to buy it from the owners for the squatters, develop it and pay for their deeds and conveyancing too!!...fricking madness yes.
I wasting my time obeying the law better I go an commit crime I might get a contract or two and live big, PNM, UNC, PP, ILP all of them the same running this country to the ground whilst they thief and buy properties in foreign and get they diplomatic passports so when sheit happen dey could fly out fast.

[BRZ]

And it's now also legal to run PH ? So free land and taxi badges?

[shake d livin wake d dead]

As a citizen I'm very disturbed by this move by the Government of the day. Every month I work hard and struggle to pay a mortgage along with other recurrent expenses that erode my disposable income. Many years I wore two jeans with two shirts a jersey and one boots to save money to have the downpayment for my home. I still sacrifice to maintain my house. I DECIDED to obey the law, I rented SACRIFICED and eventually owned my own instead of depending on the Govt. Now out of the blue the Govt just gives state land to lawbreakers for FREE.
I have no problem in the Govt improving the living conditions of persons, but not for FREE at the expense of taxpayers at least they should be made to pay a subsidized flexible fee for the land once developed. After all its taxpayers money that will be used to upgrade the lands in these areas. And to read the BS from tuners like zoomrader and others of his ilk who blindly support every single move by this Govt without being objective gets me even more angry.
Regardless of whatever good this Govt has done, my support for them has wained as they have grossly disrespected me and my family and other law abiding and constructive lower to middle class citizens who STRUGGLE and SACRIFICE every month to survive, for as they made this move to win the votes of some 60,000 squatters, they will pay the ultimate price at the hands of us 300,000 plus citizens who struggle every month to PAY our RENTS, MORTGAGES, LAND LOANS, BRIDGING FINANCE FEES, HOUSE INSURANCE ans other f@#%ing fees and charges to OWN and keep our properties legally.

you seem upset

[redman24]

You got that right that I'm f@*king upset. I'm not against squatters being upgraded but it should not be for FREE.

[RASC]

And it's now also legal to run PH ? So free land and taxi badges?

Yups
Thanks Kamala
UML et al is of course pleased...

[Rory Phoulorie]

And it's now also legal to run PH ? So free land and taxi badges?

Yups
Thanks Kamala
UML et al is of course pleased...

RASC, you must not use phrases like "et. al." in threads that UML, zoom rader and trichards80 will read, or try to read. The PNM education system has failed all of them as they either cannot spell, or have a constructive discussion concerning their vitriolic posts.

[desifemlove]

poor people get free, rich ppl can buy

the middle class gets raped..level

This govt has always been anti middle class.

What BS to taking about again.
Under the PNM the middle class was almost wiped out.

Just as PNM enslaved the lower income classes they was pressing to enslave the middle class with high and unfair housing tax. Everything under PNM is some sort of tax where the tax payers never benefit.

PNM didn't do much for the economy. UNC done better?

[Lance]

Can't believe that people still think that either of these political parties is a viable option.

For decades it has always been a decision of the lesser of two evils. Trinidad and Tobago deserves far better.

[BRZ]

Can't believe that people still think that either of these political parties is a viable option.

For decades it has always been a decision of the lesser of two evils. Trinidad and Tobago deserves far better.

People Fail to realize this and that we need more young people who actually care about Trinidad to get involved in politics and get rid of ALL the old political thieves.

[Crackpot]

Regularise wrongdoing just like all manner of corruption has been regularised since 2010...no surprise here

[shake d livin wake d dead]

so they run out of time to pass the bill...what go happen now?

[Lance]

Simple, it will be shelved until a next election.

However, The promise will continue to be used on the political platform where the PP will cite the unwillingness of the opposition to support the poor people of Trinidad and Tobago. This will be done to entice resentment.

To be honest, the bill might have been brought forward knowing that it would have stalled. I guarantee you that it will be spun on the platform.

[88sins]

all this gum flappage about squatter regularisation is just that, gum flappage. wil NEVER happen, not under a unc gov't or any other.


this dotish woman really feel ppl just as chupid as she is

[shake d livin wake d dead]

all this gum flappage about squatter regularisation is just that, gum flappage. wil NEVER happen, not under a unc gov't or any other.


this dotish woman really feel ppl just as chupid as she is

u want UML trip on u oarrrrr

[88sins]

yeah i kno he wouldn't like to read that.
sadly tho it is still tru, & unfortunately for UML, he's not important enough for me to care his feelies about that female