Owners ‘to pay’ for house demolition, car removal

By Sheria Brathwaite

The government will continue to demolish abandoned buildings, clean derelict lots and remove disused vehicles, but will hand the cleaning bill to property owners, Acting Minister of Environment and National Beautification Corey Lane has vowed.

After the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) spent thousands of dollars on a national clean-up initiative as part of its vermin eradication and environmental hygiene mandate, Lane said lawmakers would go to Parliament sometime in the New Year to make owners liable for clearing house spots.

He announced: “The government’s intention is really to amend the legislation because we cannot at this stage legally operate in that way in terms of putting that [mandatorily making owners responsible for the cost of the cleaning] onto the bill, but after the bill is amended next year, we’ll be able to do that. In the meantime, we want to make sure as many Barbadians have a safe and healthy [Christmas] season. So we will be pursuing it in terms of the government taking on the responsibility at this time. But I also really want to call on all Barbadians to keep your lots [and unoccupied properties] clean.”

The minister did not have the figures for the cost of demolishing derelict buildings or cleaning overgrown lots, but back in March 2019, EPD director Anthony Headley reported that it cost the government $90 000 to clear 57 properties during a derelict building demolition programme.

In January this year, the EPD published a list of 106 derelict buildings for which notices were served from as far back as March 2022 indicating that the properties were “in a dangerous state and or injurious to the health of human beings”.

The EPD said that action would be taken on the buildings immediately after February 2. But Lane said the demolition programme was yet to be rolled out.

“We are hoping to really have that starting probably by the beginning of next week because it really should have started about two weeks ago,” he said.

“We are still processing the small contractors who will be taking on that responsibility. We have to get people who knock them down and/or remove them. So sometimes one contractor is in a position to knock down and remove or sometimes you have to get two separate contractors – somebody that can demolish and then somebody that does the removal.”

Barbados TODAY has observed that some of the buildings on the demolition list have since been knocked down by property owners who contacted the EPD after the document was published.

Lane also noted several dilapidated government buildings were considered to be derelict and would be demolished.

He said the removal of abandoned cars was continuing apace and was exceeding targets.

“The derelict programme for cars or buildings is not about seizing anybody’s property, taking up cars off of properties,” Lane declared. “All of these things are considered with the owner of the land – if it is posing a threat, if you have permission for the type of business and activity; all of those things are taken into consideration and the government follows the law.

“We want to encourage business and we want to facilitate business but we want people to be able to have access to their homes. We want emergency vehicles to be able to access people in the event of an emergency and that we as Barbadians are safe, where people do not have to worry about dengue, leptospirosis and other vector-carrying diseases.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb