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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
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Newly constructed road at Palwi Drive in La Ressource |
Thursday, March 18, 2004 - The construction of roads and the
installation of water and electricity significantly increases the value of land
in any community. For this reason, says Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, the
residents of Palwi Drive should be cognisant of the priceless opportunity of
becoming house and land owners, which the PROUD initiative affords them. The
Prime Minister was speaking at the official opening of the new road in La
Ressource, Vieux Fort, which was constructed under Phase 7 of the Programme for
the Regularization of Unplanned Development also known as PROUD.
“I want to remind you”, he told residents of Palwi Drive in his constituency,
“that when you own this land there is a lot you can do with it. If you want to
expand your house, you can walk into a bank, mortgage the land to raise that
money; if you want to provide for the education of a child, you are able to use
that land to get the bank or other institutions to make the money available to
you.”
The Parliamentary Representative for the area also challenged the people of
Palwi Drive to dispose their garbage responsibly, and to keep the community
clean. Dr. Anthony further promised that garbage bins would be disseminated in
the community to encourage the proper disposal of waste.
In providing an update on the progress of Phase 7 of PROUD, Project
Co-ordinator, Delia Didier Nicholas says the property within the community
covering some 47 households have been sub-divided and pegged, and now the
responsibility rests with residents to take the process one step further.
“To date, boundary service has been established, and the road and drains have
been constructed. The next phase of the project is the provision of title deeds,
which can only be achieved after you have purchased the land you occupy”, Mrs.
Didier Nicholas said.
Minister for Communications, Works, Transport, and Public Utilities, Honourable
Felix Finisterre urged residents to meet government halfway as partners in the
process of development. He expounded on the government’s philosophy, stating
that democracy went beyond the voting process to embrace the participation of
citizen’s in their country’s development. From the Minister‘s perspective,
citizens who were previously squatters on crown lands are now becoming
legitimate land owners, because the government believes in empowering the people
to contribute in their own way, to their country’s development.
The residents came together and decided to name the road Palwi Drive one month
ago. Prior to the construction of the road, residents accessed their homes via a
dirt footpath.
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