Former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal is calling on his successor Marlene McDonald to hold off on evicting HDC tenants and home owners who violate rules for home occupation.
He was responding to complaints from his constituents that HDC had given them 28 days to remove all illegal structures from their housing units or face eviction. These include fencing, burglar proof, extensions, pets or additional fixtures.
In an interview yesterday, Moonilal said he planned to meet with the affected residents of Wellington Gardens to discuss their concerns.
“I understand that HDC has sent letters of violation of the rules and regulations and I have invited the HDC representatives to attend a meeting to address the residents’ complaints,” Moonilal said.
Saying the matter was between HDC and its tenants, Moonilal said he was hopeful that good sense would prevail and there would be no further disturbances.
He said under the past government, there were specific rules and regulations for occupation of houses.
“We had asked the board to suspend taking action against residents pending a review of the rules and regulations but I am not sure if that directive is still enforced. I am hoping that the new minister could continue that process we started which is to revise the rules and regulations before taking further action against tenants and home owners,” Moonilal said.
He said: “I am hoping that the HDC and the Housing Ministry could continue our policy of reviewing the rules because some of them are indeed punitive.”
Meanwhile, Maurisa Findley, HDC’s consultant manager of corporate communications, denied that any tenant had been evicted. She said anyone who made unauthorised alterations or placed anything that was a threat to another resident was in violation of their home occupation rules.
“If you plant pots on your walls or have dogs, animals and pets with no permission, our social division will write to you to say that it must be removed. You must seek permission in writing from HDC to make alterations,” Findley said.
“You cannot just fence your yard, there are boundaries to be defined. And you must maintain the standards of the community.”
Manager of HDC’s South Branch Adesh Beephan also said that because of underground power lines, HDC had to give proper authorisation before fences could be built. He said while citizens might want to secure their premises, this had to be done in accordance with the HDC’s rules.
Debe residents complained on Thursday that they were forced to secure their premises because of high crime. Many said they had written to the HDC in the past requesting authorisation but their requests were ignored. McDonald has declined comment on the issue saying she would make a statement once she was fully briefed. She said nobody had brought the issue to her attention so she could not comment.