Let us retain the Bajan vernacular of houses.
That is the plea of Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne KC as he described the new homes being built by Government as “incongruous and vulgar”.
He was joining debate yesterday in the House of Assembly on a bill to merge the Urban Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission.
Thorne said he had wondered over the years why there was a separation of corporations.
He said the streamlining was a good thing but there was a casualty.
“I hope there won’t be any redundancy and only the voluntary separation packages,” he said.
Thorne said urban Barbados was generally thought of as St Michael and there was a “substantial and significant degeneration within St Michael in terms of the housing stock”.
“I grew up in St Michael and this socalled housing thrust is misconceived for two reasons – the destruction of agricultural land and it ignores and neglects genuine urban renewal within certain St Michael areas.”
Disrepair
He said as there was improvement from the wooden chattel to the concrete houses by those of higher income, with it “came uneven development as next to a two-storey house is a small wooden chattel house falling into disrepair.
“There is room within those communities in St Michael for tasteful urban renewal and by tasteful I mean the retention of skills and heritage because there is nothing quite as beautiful as the wooden chattel with the jalousie window.”
Thorne said the oldtime artisans cannot be replicated today.
“These carpenters built houses which were durable and scientifically and technologically marvellous. Any effort towards urban renewal must focus on heritage. Without consigning people to a restricted space, I would want to urge the Commission to look at retaining that old character of those houses that were so tasteful and well designed.”
Noting that those chattel houses were now relegated to being on postcards, he admonished Government for the new architectural designs now being planted on agricultural land.
“The new architecture is not tasteful at all. I have been observing recent developments and I think the Government needs to invest and reinvest in local skills and expertise, so that Barbados can look at and feel like the peaceful villages of yore. There is now a certain hostile architecture across Barbados.
“Our neighbourhoods are losing their characters, going North American in their design. In Barbados, we live in villages and in North America we live in houses. The design and layout of the villages was organic and we need those recreational areas to be part of the communities again – please don’t fence them in.”
The Christ Church South MP said the Ministry of Housing was creating sterile environments in these communities.
“Reverse the housing thrust that is taking attention away from these established communities that have been lived in for over 100 years. Reverse this policy and this thrust of going into agricultural Barbados and planting these very unattractive houses that become holding pens and they are very expensive.
“Going back to a traditional design could be a lot cheaper than trying to create new communities where sweet potato and cane used to be planted. There are several vacant lots and several abandoned and dilapidated houses that can house a substantial part of this population.”
Thorne urged the retainment of the houses that will be audited by the merged corporations.
“Go into those communities, do an audit, look at houses that need renewals and work on that house.
“A lot of old communities have suffered from migration out of the communities. The children move out, the parents stay and die and the house literally falls down. There is a case for this Commission for reoccupation of that house.”
(NS)
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