Illegal Construction Demolitions will see CHANGE in TCI

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, June 29, 2023 – The government and the public will be much better informed about the diagnostic data on residents living in informal settlements before the next demolition, according to the Informal Settlement Unit.

In a presentation to the National Security Council on June 16th, the ISU revealed it would be introducing a new system to collect information via survey.

Former Justice Carlos Simons KC, who is the Strategic Lead Informal Settlement Unit) and Loraine Lewis, Rapid Assessment Consultant indicated that they had not only pieced together the country’s informal settlement profile by updating aerial and street view imagery and conducting rapid assessment of informal settlements locally but were developing a social needs survey to understand the profile of persons who live in these settlements.

They say this will collect information including access to alternative housing, utilities, social needs and more ‘to determine the required support systems, and a public awareness campaign to inform the public of the ISU’s activities and provide relevant information.’

A concern expressed by residents and acknowledged by the ISU after the first demolition exercise was that there was no information on who had lived in the houses, how many children were affected, their nationalities, immigration status and more.

That will be a thing of the past, hopes the ISU, with this new survey which will make the process more humane.