A
Brief Evaluation of Low-Income Housing In Barbados
In
Barbados, housing remains as a hyper visible reminder of the legacies of
plantocracy and tenure insecurity. From the timber chattel houses to the
manufactured concrete residences, these dwellings represent the responses from
individuals and the government to the lack of affordable and accessible housing
on the island since emancipation. Beginning from the era of apprenticeship, as
planters secured their labor force, working-class Barbadians have been afforded
little to no opportunities for land ownership. The Master and Servants Act of
1840 established the “located labor” system as former slaves became bound to
their master’s estate as tenant and laborer (Potter & Conway, 1997, p.34).
Here is an instance of a freed population experiencing a legal reframing of
slave labor that continued to constrict access to resources and prevent upward
social mobility. The solution was the chattel house, easily dismantled
structures located on impermanent house spots rented out in return for labor.
This
coercive strategy began to decline with the sugar industry into the 20th
century. Although the influx of Panama money began to assist the working class
in obtaining land, the government had yet to actualize the struggle for low-cost
housing for those Barbadians emerging from the end of the tenantry system. As
employment moved from plantations to the urban areas of Bridgetown, laborers
sought access to land and housing through the development of slums. With the
Bridgetown Housing Act in 1936, government officials established legislation to
address livable and affordable housing conditions. It addressed several issues
and facilitated the formation of the Housing Board to specifically handle the
task of upkeep amongst urban housing. This act did not suffice as next year,
neglected housing conditions were further investigated after the 1937 Riots. This
served as the impetus for the British government to send a royal commission (The
Royal West India or Moyne Commission) and report on the source of tension and
create further instructions for settling civic unrest. Outlined in the section
on Government Housing Schemes in Towns, recommendations including slum
clearance, construction of housing for rental, balances between public and
private ownership, and equal government concentration on urban and rural
housing served as the alternative strategy to account for high rates of
movement to urban areas (Moyne, 1945, p. 181). This is arguably the first policy
step toward establishing a formal government program for housing. However, Hurricane
Janet, which struck in 1955 and took a toll on the island’s housing stock, also
spurred public commentary and Vestry inquiry into the status of government
rehousing policy (Barbados Advocate, 1955, p.16). The Barbadian National
Housing Authority, later to become the National Housing Corporation (NHC), took
on the task of short-term housing for hurricane relief and the construction of
long-term housing units for those displaced (Potter & Conway, 1997, p.34).
The
origins of low-cost housing in Barbados deal with the matter of controlling the
slum proliferation and adverse effects on the town’s congestion and sanitation.
A report identified the land of Pine Plantation to be cleared of slum-dwellers
and to be used for the rehousing of tenants in congested areas of Bridgetown
(De Syllas, 1946, p.1). Developed in 1947, the Pine Housing Area became one of
the island’s largest estates, experiencing notable development in the 1950s as
residents took it upon themselves to build upon prefabricated units and add
additional bedrooms and bathrooms. The need for recreational spaces generated
the implementation of recreational facilities such as parks, daycares, fields,
and community centers (Grant, 2014). This estate achieved high community
engagement and managed to uplift the moral of the community. While these
characteristics are noteworthy, this estate is still working to recreate the
narrative of most low-cost housing in Barbados. Experiences of neighborhood
violence, poverty, crime, and unemployment have circulated through the media
and prompted government’s further attention of these housing programs. Pineland
estate may be the exception to the majority of government housing as planners
continue to view estates as incapable of rising above these social problems
even with government support, and the public has begun to internalize such
detrimental rhetoric.
Residents
of a very different estate in St. Andrew become an example of this as the
opinion that “only certain people end up at Belleplaine” circulated amongst NHC
officials (Watson & Potter, 2001, p. 290). Tenants also combat
deteriorating living conditions and have expressed grievances surrounding the
foundation of the estate as it employed substandard design and assigned uneven
ratios of family members to bedrooms, as well as encountering a continual lack
of maintenance. Other estates with similar problems have fallen victim to the
same conditions that distinguish government estates from other housing and
further adds to the complexities of the modern housing climate in Barbados.
From
the tenantry system to present-day housing conditions, tenure insecurity
remains. The NHC’s matter of rent default gives insight into the current
atmosphere surrounding the reach of government intervention. “In December 1992,
NHC announced that the arrears of tenants stood at over Bds $3,000,000, with 69
percent of all tenants being involved” (Watson & Potter, 2001). Currently,
residents are facing a series of eviction notices by the NHC across estates. One
Pinelands Estate resident, aged 73 years, received an eviction notice after
living there since the 1950’s. The letter stated he was ~$25,000 in arrears and
had 7 days to vacate the premises (Agard, 2018). Barbadians seeking low cost
housing are experiencing a crisis precipitated by colonial premonitions of
housing that have yet to be addressed. Should the Barbadian government possess
the right to evict residents in this manner? The future of government housing
will need to address the current quasi-self help environment. Further
evaluation is needed to explore whether the NHC should provide housing or be a
facilitator in the process. The latter suggests providing resources and
establishing frameworks to assist in promoting the control of resources back to
those who are in most need of assistance with acquiring and managing quality
housing. This may do well in reconciling for the institutional barriers from
the legacy of plantocracy carried into the socio-economic conditions of modern
Barbados.
REFERENCE
LIST
Agard, R. (2018, September 7). Pensioner facing eviction. Nation News. Retrieved from
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/193281/pensioner-facing-eviction.
De Syllas, L. M. (1944). Report on the Utilisation of the Pine Estate for Housing and Slum
Clearance. Bridgetown, Barbados.
Grant, R. (2014, November 19). Our Roots. Pinelands Creative Workshop. Retrieved
from:
https://www.pinelandscreativeworkshop.org/where-we-came-from/.
Moyne, L., Stubbs, R., Crowdy, R. E., Citrine, W.,
Mackinnon, P., & Blacklock, M. G. (1945).
West
India royal commission report. London: HM
Stationery.
Potter, R. B., & Conway, D. (Eds.).
(1997). Self-Help Housing, the Poor, and
the State in the
Caribbean. Knoxville, Tennessee: Univ. of
Tennessee Press.
Watson, M. R., & Potter, R. B. (2001). Low-cost housing in Barbados: Evolution or
social
revolution?. University of West Indies
Press.
(1955, October 20). Gov’t Reveals
Housing Plans. Barbados Advocate, p.
16.
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