After being in limbo for more than 50 years, residents of Six Men’s, St Peter, are on the way to owning the land they have lived on for multiple generations.
Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector Colin Jordan, who is Member of Parliament for St Peter, gave the House of Assembly an update on what he called the “Six Men’s life improvement project” yesterday.
“The people of Six Men’s are tremendously happy with the progress that is being made by the Ministry of Housing and the National Housing Corporation,” he said during debate to rescind a resolution for the vesting of two parcels of land at Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church.
“These are people who, for over 50 years now, have been in limbo with respect to . . . owning the land that they’ve been on for multiple generations. I am happy to report . . . that the National Housing Corporation under the Ministry of Housing, has surveyed, I believe, at this point, close to half of the [house] spots in Six Men’s.”
Jordan added that Government had “made sure that we are in a position to start the process of transferring” ownership to residents.
“Up until about three weeks before Christmas, 37 residents received their letters indicating to them that they can come in. All of the surveys have been done. The price that they have to pay for lots that might be 3 000 square feet, I think it’s $1 400,” he said.
The minister recalled that there were Six Men’s residents “who were told by members of the Democratic Labour Party that they were all to be moved . . . . There was an attempt to mislead them”.
“But I’m happy to say that the Ministry of Housing and the National Housing Corporation have surveyed almost half. They have gone from south to north, so from the northern boundary of Port Ferdinand in what . . . we refer to [as] Six Men’s Village, and they’re going north,” he said.
“This government and the Ministry of Housing and the National Housing Corporation under Barbados Labour Party, ministers have never referred to the people of Six Men’s as squatters.
“There is a former member of parliament for St Lucy, who when he acted as Minister of Housing, dismissed the people of Six Men’s as squatters when they were asking, ‘How come Port Ferdinand can buy land and we can’t buy land.’”
Jordan added: “We have done a lot in terms of beautifying the community.
“We have a clean and green park on the northern side . . . . We have just, in the last two weeks, done a clean-up as well as a beautification, putting down some benches on the seaside, a place where people had dumped before,” he noted.
Improved garbage collection was also on the cards.
“Because of how the houses are, there are some places that are too small for a garbage truck to get to and . . . Sanitation Service Authority has indicated that they will be providing a smaller vehicle to be able to access those houses,” he said.
“We have said to the residents of Six Men’s that in the few cases . . . where we may need to rearrange a house so that they can be accessed by public service vehicles, we will do that on some of the lands that
we think are available in the area.
“Residents of Six Men’s will not have to leave Six Men’s to have their lives improved. This Six Men’s life improvement project is an illustration of the kind of work that this Barbados Labour Party . . . Government is doing on behalf of the ordinary working-class people of this country.” (SC)
