00:00Several settlements under the Housing Development Corporation have experienced serious flooding,
00:05inclusive of, but not limited to, Greenvale Earpun Gardens and Real Spring Valsain.
00:11Authorities have had to do remedial works to address the impact it has caused to tenants.
00:17In some cases, building close to water channels has been a contributing factor to the flooding woes.
00:22As the Land Settlement Agency is set to launch its application process for 500 fully approved residential lots,
00:30which are said to be mostly in Central and South Trinidad,
00:34TV6 News sought answers from officials pertaining to the selected lots,
00:38which will in the not-too-distant future become home to successful applicants.
00:43And I wanted to kind of inquire as to what sort of considerations went into where these sites would be located
00:52so that persons who are building up would at least not have that sort of worry to worry about,
00:58if you want to put it that way.
01:00So, the sites that we have developed, or have been developed,
01:07I'll put this with you.
01:09Every single lot has a fully approved residential lot,
01:14which means that there was the input of the drainage division,
01:18the input of the EME in certain circumstances,
01:21the input of the regional corporation,
01:24and all other regulatory bodies before we could have gotten approval.
01:28Minister of Land and Legal Affairs, Saddam Hussein,
01:31is going one step further to make this pronouncement.
01:34We are highly confident that these areas that we are going to distribute the lands
01:39for the landless program are, in fact, areas where those matters would have been taken into consideration
01:45and the necessary infrastructural work was, in fact, done.
01:50Chairman of the Land Settlement Agency, Nisha Matura-Alaher,
01:54tells us climate change is a factor to consider,
01:56which can pose unforeseen challenges.
01:59So, of course, unusual levels of rainfall we cannot cater for,
02:04but I can assure you that the approval process,
02:08the drainage and the approvals that we have to go through,
02:13they make sure that we have all the offsets from rivers, ravines,
02:18they make sure that we have all the slipper drains
02:20and all of the concrete drains.
02:23We will not be able to get the approvals if they were not gone through the process
02:28and the drains, the sewer, everything is put in place before.
02:34Matura-Alaher says there will be no problem
02:36in applicants approaching financial institutions from that perspective.
02:41As for what kind of structures can be built,
02:44Minister Hussain says it will be dependent on town and country planning,
02:48while the LSA adds that it will also be subjected to the covenants in the deeds of lease.
02:53And a deed of lease also makes it easier for the state to manage the development.
02:59I know in the past the management of development has been a bugbear,
03:03but we are hoping that we will be able to manage and ensure
03:06that the developments that we create are proper developments
03:11and developments where anybody would wish to live.
03:14The LSA states that a usual agreement for sale takes around three months
03:18once a deposit is made on the lots.
03:21The plan is to use the money generated from Phase 1
03:24to begin working on Phase 2 of the project.
03:27Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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