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Most Jamaicans who grew up in Jamaica understand the residential living, luxury homes on a hill or next to the ocean, tenement yards, squatting settlers, bush living, agricultural land, and others. My formative years were spent in a tenement yard, one room (a box room probably 12 x 10) with a community kitchen, a small verandah, and community toilets. I never had the experience of living in a squatters’ settlement. However, I am quite aware of and empathize with residents living in squatters’ communities, the uncertainties, living conditions, crime, and the strains of life and living. Approximately 20% of Jamaica’s population lives in these informal communities. Yes, I said it right, 20%.
Since slavery, the Jamaican governments have had interesting relationships with informal occupants. However confusing at times, squatters have rights. So much so that today there is a particular management unit in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for managing settlers’ land and squatters’ issues. There are more than 700 squatters communities across Jamaica that the NSMP monitors.
In recent news, the government of Jamaica demolished homes in a squatters’ settlement in Clifton, St Catherine. This article will address some of the issues that create confusion among citizens and attempt to bring some clarity to squatting in Jamaica.
Squatting, also known as Informal settlements, adverse possession, or shanty towns, is…
