By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News |
RIVERVIEW, RUIMVELDT — The Ministry of Housing and Water, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), has initiated ground-level engagements with families occupying an informal settlement along the Demerara riverbank in Riverview, Ruimveldt, fulfilling an executive commitment delivered by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali during an outreach in August.
Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal, accompanied by Director of Community Development Gladwin Charles and ministry technical officers, conducted an on-site assessment on Tuesday, launching systematic household mapping and data collection across the vulnerable coastal-strip settlement.
Household Inventory: 81 Informal Structures Numbered
The technical team launched the first phase of the intervention, which focuses on cataloging physical dwellings and evaluating household conditions along the river defense corridor:
- Site Survey & Structure Numbering: Ministry officers surveyed the immediate riverbank parcel, systematically numbering 81 informal structures currently erected on state reserves.
- Socioeconomic Profiling: Officials began one-on-one interviews with residents to record household sizes, employment situations, dependency ratios, and specialized vulnerability metrics.
- Planning the Transition: Minister Croal clarified that the compiled field data will establish the evidentiary baseline for the forthcoming structured relocation exercise.
“This is my first engagement as a follow-up; we have started the logging of the persons who are here, we have numbered 81 structures,” Minister Croal confirmed. “The next phase will see us working with the families as part of the relocation process and also to address a number of social issues.”
Multi-Ministry Coordination: Protecting Livelihoods and Social Welfare
Recognizing that informal riverfront communities often rely on traditional artisanal trades, the resettlement plan integrates multi-agency state support to avoid disrupting local livelihoods:
- Safeguarding Fishing Occupations: The Ministry of Agriculture is actively liaising with residents who derive their primary income from commercial artisanal fishing, ensuring that relocation strategies accommodate boat moorings, cold-storage, and landing facilities.
- Social Safety Nets: The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has been mobilized to address pressing social vulnerabilities, including child protection, income support, and aid for the indigent elderly.
- Constituency Coordination: The Ministry of Home Affairs, which holds administrative and political responsibility for the district, is collaborating with housing planners to maintain community order and facilitate a smooth transition.
Broader National Regularization and Relocation Agenda
The Riverview exercise forms part of a wider national policy aimed at eliminating unsafe informal settlements, particularly those established on zero-tolerance flood defenses, sea walls, and drainage reserves:
- Relocation vs. Regularization: Where settlements present acute structural hazards—such as precarious riverbanks prone to high-tide erosion—the state pursues planned relocations to subsidized housing developments. Non-hazardous informal settlements continue to undergo legal regularization and infrastructure upgrades.
- Universal Standard of Living: Minister Croal reaffirmed the administration’s core housing philosophy, stating that eliminating squatter settlements ensures vulnerable households transition into planned schemes equipped with potable water, electricity, proper road networks, and secure freehold land titles.
