Prime Minister Andrew Holness today (January 15) reiterated his stance that the Government will have no sympathy for squatting in the future, instead doing all it can to provide adequate housing solutions for all Jamaicans.

Holness, in addressing a handover ceremony for certificates of title, held by the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, said social justice was at the root of the issues surrounding land ownership and operation, and that there has been an ambivalence in the country towards property rights.

“We don’t always respect property and that is because of our history,” Holness told the gathering of new homeowners who were separated into two rooms to ensure adherence to social distancing protocols.

“I am a firm believer in ensuring that every single Jamaican can have access to land. But hear me now, no more slave master run Jamaica. We run Jamaica, so when we are going to decide to illegally, improperly settle away land, what we are doing is taking away from ourselves,” the prime minister added as he stressed that at some point a line must be drawn in the sand with regard to squatting.

Said Holness: “If we allow it to continue unabated, then the very things you complain about (water, electricity, crime, garbage collection), all of them are rooted in how we as a country allowed our land to be settled.”

Looking back a the history of squatting, the prime minister acknowledged that politicians had to accept some blame for at times telling constituents to take up residence on land they did not own.

He said the newer generation of politicians would not accept such a stance and that the aim today was to build an economy of ownership which could only be done through the law.

With that in mind, Holness noted his previously announced programme to provide 70,000 affordable housing solutions, the majority of which he said would cost prospective homeowners around $8 million.

He said at an $8 million price tag, the homes should be affordable to individuals earning $15,000 per week, particularly if they are able to secure mortgages at reasonable interest rates.

When he first announced the programme during his swearing-in ceremony last September, Holness had said 30 per cent of the homes to be provided would be reserved for the nation’s policemen and policewomen, nurses, teachers and civil servants.

He had also said then that the National Housing Trust would each year invest a minimum of $1 billion in social housing, to include construction and repairs for those who are not able to purchase a home.

In addition, he had said his administration planned to issue more than 30,000 land titles to Jamaicans who have legitimate claims to land that they have occupied and cultivated for generations.

In his own presentation yesterday, Pearnel Charles Jr, minister of housing, urban renewal, development, environment and climate change, told the more than 30 persons receiving titles to their homes that they would each receive a token that would allow them to make a contribution to the environment.

“We will present you with a seedling for a tree from the Forestry Department. Each of us have a part to play and we can slowly reverse the damage that has been done to our environment, ” Charles said.