More than 100 tenants of social housing came to the community centre in Belvedere last night.
PHILIPSBURG--The community centre in Belvedere was full last night. More than 100 tenants of social housing units made their grievances about the deplorable state of their homes known to Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran, who had invited the neighbourhood to speak out.
Doran, his policy advisors and VROMI Ministry Secretary General Kurt Ruan listened carefully and took notes. One testimony after another was given about leaking roofs, the lack of gutters, broken doors, inadequate bathrooms and kitchens. According to residents, the windows of their homes cannot be opened and a few do not have an outside door.
The tenants believe that they pay too much rent for a housing with moderate to very serious defects. The complaints can be divided into three categories: overdue maintenance, partially-carried-out repairs and incorrectly-performed repairs.
“Since the electricity has been renewed, I no longer have lighting on the upper floor,” complains a lady. “The power lines are wrongly connected.”
Social housing provider St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) is under fire from the attendees. While complaining to the minister, tenants repeatedly pointed an accusing finger at the back of the room where SMHDF director Helen Salomons and Technical Director Telson Bell were listening. A few showed support for employees of the housing foundation: “The maintenance of homes is just too much for them, the workload is far too heavy.” Several attendees nodded in agreement.
The fact is that four years after Hurricane Irma, a large part of the homes managed by SMHDF are in poor condition. At the request of the government, a rapid housing sector assessment was conducted by the World Bank and extensive technical assistance was offered to SMHDF over the last few years. A review of SMHDF’s financial situation showed the need for structural improvements with the foundation’s financial management.
Since the inception of the Trust Fund in 2018, 369 SMHDF units have been repaired, totalling US $1.06 million. The National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) has made final preparations to refurbish the 64 Belvedere tower apartments. These repairs, which have an estimated value of $5.4 million, are scheduled to commence, Doran stated.
Doran had organised the town hall meeting to further assess the social housing situation. “Minister, if you really want to know what kind of conditions we live in, then you have to come and look at each of the houses,” said a resident, who immediately received support from the audience. “I invite you to come and see for yourself,” she said to Minister Doran. Loud applause resounded in the room.
Doran assured the tenants that he is well aware of their situation; he was previously given tours of the neighbourhoods by SMHDF and visited the Towers. “This doesn’t take away from the fact that I’m willing to come,” Doran said. “I’ve taken notes of the most extreme situations, and I’ll visit these people to see for myself.”
Tenants emphasised that the situation is not only due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, but that overdue maintenance of the homes has been commonplace for decades. The argument that SMHDF had too little financial resources for structural maintenance all these years was loudly contradicted.
“The solution is to sell the properties to the tenants,” said Camille Ashby, who has been a tenant of a two-bedroom property in Belvedere for 21 years. “Already in 2004 we got the chance to buy our house, and I immediately signed up for it. But when a number of houses were sold to tenants, the further sale was suddenly stopped.” After 21 years of renting the house, for a total of 249,480 Antillean guilders, Ashby thinks she should have the right to own the house. “The book value of the property is significantly less than the rent that I have paid since 1999.”
According to Doran, the discussion about the amount of the rent in relation to the condition of the house is independent of the question whether the tenant is entitled to ownership of the house because he has invested in maintenance himself for years. “The St. Maarten Housing Foundation is a private foundation. As a government, we cannot decide for the foundation, we can only advise,” Doran said.
Personally, he is in favour of homeownership, said Doran. “I would like to discuss how long-time tenants can acquire ownership of their home. But it is not the intention to do the housing foundation short; we have to discuss together what the possibilities are, to the benefit of all.”
VROMI Minister Egbert Doran and Secretary General Kurt Ruan took note of tenants’ grievances.
“Minister, come and look for yourself,” a woman said to Minister Doran, inviting him to her home.
