Investment-friendly environment
needed for affordable housing
~ Richards tells Caneye delegates ~
PHILIPSBURG--The tenth Caneye social housing conference gets underway in earnest today with much emphasis being placed on examining ways of providing affordable housing in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
The stage for today’s discussions was set at a cocktail reception last night at which Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards called for the stimulation and facilitation of an environment that would be much more favourable to investing in affordable housing in the two countries.
At last night’s reception, Chairman of the proceedings Marcel Gumbs gave a brief historical explanation of the name Caneye, which he said was what the Arawak Indian tribe had called a particular house.
Also, Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards, and Caneye and St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation Director Michael Fowler welcomed all the participating delegates from Aruba, the Netherlands and the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles.
Fowler explained that Caneye stemmed from an agreement by the housing foundations of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba after a meeting on May 5, 1998, to join forces to the benefit of improving social housing.
Fowler said that based on this arrangement it had become obvious through regular contacts over the years that the social housing sector in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba faced substantial problems of a financial, economic and political nature. He said it was also noticeable that all the islands were facing substantial shortages of adequate housing facilities for the socially deprived in society.
He also said it was equally apparent that the respective governments were lacking the political wherewithal to address the needs and to address all needs it was necessary to make a considerable investment, while the financial resources to address all of the issues in all sectors were extremely limited.
He emphasised that the provision of adequate housing required action by not only Governments, but also by all sectors of society, including the private sector, NGOs and communities, as well as by partner organisations and entities of the international community.
In welcoming all to the conference for what Richards remarked would be some serious discussions and exchange of ideas on the topic of funding affordable or low-income housing, its bottlenecks and opportunities granted, he said it should be recognised that even in times of economic expansion, certain trends and statistics pointed to an increased need for affordable housing.
He said the generally-accepted definition of affordable housing was for a household to pay no more than 30 per cent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 per cent of their income for housing are considered cost-burdened and may have difficulty affording basic necessities.
He said low income housing developers and advocates were confronted with the hurdle that community members tried to prevent low-income housing from coming to their area or neighbourhood, under the misconception that low-income housing equalled low-quality housing and therefore caused a decline in the economic value of present homes, and norms and values.
On the other hand, he mentioned that in past years the island had seen more of a real commitment to the development of affordable housing, pointing out that the Island Council had ratified amendments to the statutes of St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation, safeguarding the necessary checks and balances. There is now more internal control allowed, and less government involvement.
He took the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that conditions and/or viewpoints held by the Netherlands concerning investment in adequate housing in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba formed a bottleneck, and welcomed a change in approach by the Netherlands entailing the introduction of authentic mechanisms facilitating the total environment surrounding the funding of housing projects.
He also mentioned reports confirming that in Holland, Minister Vogelaar had already indicated that housing corporations in the Netherlands might invest in the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. He said the minister had mentioned as condition for such that the Dutch companies pursue cooperation with local parties in the execution of the projects, allowing for them to gain expertise.
Curiously, he said, no mention is made about the prospects of those same corporations investing in such projects in Curaçao and St. Maarten, while it is precisely on these two islands that the need for affordable housing is greater.
