| Commentary: SQUATTERS --A TICKING TIME BOMB? |
Dr Satish Chand
Many of the Pacific islands capitals are busting at the seams, accommodating new arrivals from the rest of the country trickling in by foot, boat and via roads in search of jobs and basic services.
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Squatter settlement in Fiji... capitals are busting in the seams accommodating new arrivals.
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The bulk of the Pacific population and those in Melanesia in particular, continue to live in the rural areas and outer islands, thus this trickle is likely to continue and possibly grow with time, bringing with it many opportunities for migrants and problems for resident urban communities.
Unless managed from the outset, the consequences of unplanned urban growth risks peace, prosperity, and the health of urban communities in our burgeoning cities. Here, we look at some of the policy challenges, drawing on a recent study done on squatter settlements in Port Moresby.
Squatters have in the main been viewed as problems. The stereotypes of settlers as criminals and a burden on the community have had a considerable sway with a few of our leaders; their solution to this (perceived) problem has been repatriation and cleansing of urban settings of settlements.
What has been lacking, however, is solid evidence on why people choose to move to urban settlements, the arrangements that have evolved to accommodate these arrivals, and the means via which the energy and drive within these new arrivals could be harnessed for growth of income of the individuals as much as the community at large. When left untapped, this same energy with the concoction of alcohol and drugs can be explosive and do immense social harm.
Those with sufficient drive, energy, and a willingness to take risks choose to leave the relative comfort of their homes for foreign land. Not surprisingly, those with the least to lose and most to gain from such action take these risks.
The new arrivals can be a problem, but they could equally be a resource for development. Squatters, in any case, are here to stay, thus there is little choice but to draw them into productive (rather than destructive) enterprise.
Knocking down their houses, destroying their businesses, and attempting to send them ‘home’ is not only unrealistic, but evidence of the ignorance of policymakers of the resource at their disposal.
Facts on the reasons why people choose to squat on land that is obviously not theirs, how they make do on a daily basis, where they get the materials to build their dwellings and sustain their families, etc, remains a mystery to many.
There is a dearth of research on settlements simply because this is not where outsiders feel safe to go, while those who live there have the necessary support networks and/or the desperation to do so.
If those outside are feeling the heat from the settlements, think of the weak and vulnerable that live within and face these risks on a daily basis.
I have friends and relatives who live in settlements.
Credit to their generosity, I have had a few glimpses of the good and the bad that takes place in these surroundings.
I have expanded on these casual observations with data collected from a comprehensive survey, funded with a grant from the International Centre for Excellence in Asia Pacific Studies at the Australian National University and the National Research Institute in Port Moresby, of a dozen settlements covering some 441 households in Port Moresby.
LESSONS: This work, undertaken jointly with Dr Charles Yala, is in its infancy but still offers many lessons on what could be done about better utilising the resource that is housed within settlements.
Many of these observations resonate with impromptu observations from Honiara, Majuro, Port Vila, and Suva.
National Capital District (that is NCD or wider Port Moresby) settlements as of the 2000 census had a total population of 53,390, approximately a fifth of the total NCD population of 254,158.
While the population of NCD as a whole had increased over the 20-year period at an annual average rate of 4 percent, aggregate settlement population had expanded at 7 percent while the newest settlements located on the urban fringe were registering growth rates in the vicinity of 12 percent.
Projecting on the basis of these figures, Port Moresby by 2020 would have a population exceeding half a million, or more than twice the current total, of which nearly 40 percent will be housed in settlements.
These figures may be overly optimistic given that nearly all of the new arrivals will be housed on land currently held under customary title.
Absent major innovations such as access to land under customary title on long term basis, perhaps 99-year residential leases, the settlements could by then account for the majority of Port Moresby population.
The majority of the arrivals into settlements comprise males in the 25 to 29 year age cohort, they invariably move in with their ‘wantoks’, most come in search of employment opportunities, and many end up being ‘self-employed’. Settlement households are generally crowded, containing anything up to 48 individuals, and are mostly headed my males.
In the more mature settlements that have been existence since the Second World War, an entire generation has grown up here and this is their ‘home’. In terms of longevity, NCD may be unique amongst Pacific capitals and thus offer lessons for others such as Suva where growth of settlements has been a much more recent phenomenon.
Settlers on state land in Port Moresby were ‘sponsored’ by politicians and thus encouraged to settle there.
The politician, acting as the patron, had in the process formed a ready clientele and one he could draw upon for support.
Many of the original patrons have since moved on, thus leaving the settlers exposed to new patrons who are forever in need of votes and mass support.
RECIPE FOR CONFLICT: These same leaders, while quick to blame the settlers for the social problems in their cities, often shy away from the fact that they had hand in the creation of these settlements in the first place.
The majority of the newer arrivals into Port Moresby have settled on land held under customary title.
While some have an explicit arrangement with the customary landowners involving payments for the land, others have occupied the land without any arrangements at all.
Settlements have grown around ethno-regional cleavages where clan and family have collocated to provide security to themselves as much as to their properties.
The older settlements have evolved their own village courts, rules regarding allocation of space and settlement of disputes. Violence, however, remains the fallback.
The clustering of young unemployed men around family and kin in close vicinity with each other is a recipe for conflict.
The above, combined with readily available alcohol and drugs, makes for an explosive cocktail and is a sure recipe for inter-tribal conflict.
Some violent conflicts have taken place but many more have been saved by a functioning conflict-resolution facility that operates across communities.
Most settlements are left to their own devices with police only attending the most serious of crimes, such as murder for example.
Port Moresby settlements are hives of economic activity. Houses were being bought and sold despite the lack of title, while (tucker) shops, tea houses, bootleggers, snooker tables, hair dressers, money lenders and nearly every other conceivable service required were available.
Settlements are also alive with political and religious functions, sports activities, and thus are far from being dull even in the remote hours of the night. Crime has a presence, but it is not all.
Contrary to popular belief, NCD settlements comprise of people from all walks of life. A number of current and retired public servants live in the settlements; this includes current and past members of the police force, the army, officers of the National Planning Department, Treasury, etc.
Many households let out rooms, but houses were not available for rent. The conspicuous absence of houses for rent in the settlements was due to the fact that ownership could only be maintained through continuous occupation.
What shocked us most was the lack of basic sanitation facilities in a number of the settlements.
Pit was the most common form of toilets, some 74 percent of the households in one settlement had no toilet facilities at all (they used ‘outside’), while in one settlement built over water, raw sewage drained straight into the sea.
The crowded conditions and lack of sanitation makes for a lethal combination, particularly in the event of a fire or an epidemic.
Action now in addressing these risks is thus overdue. I recall seeing these same risks in Jenrok, an overcrowded settlement in Majuro.
Squatter settlements are our own creations and likely to remain with us for a while. The energy bottled within these settlements provides the opportunity to harness them for development; left untapped, this same energy has the potential to blow in our faces in the form of increased social conflict, greater health and security risks and increased poverty.
It may be time for the leaders in Honiara, Majuro, Port Moresby, Port Vila, Suva, etc. to take heed of this call.
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