Hon. Lydia Tabuya on Fixing Fiji's Housing Problem

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Leaving aside her illusions about the now replaced 1997 Constitution “where everyone’s interest (was) protected” (Its electoral provisions were based on race that penalised Indo-Fijians and urban Taukei. See the footnote on the current 2013 Constitution),  her protection of leader Rabuka, forgiven for his 1987 coup, and the histrionics about “a nation in pain”, SODELPA’s Whip and shadow Housing and Local Government minister, Lynda Tabuya, makes some valid, if arguable, points about the national deficit, government spending cuts, the ECAL tax, and the requisition system where each Ministry has to reapply the funds inthe 2019 Budget. 

More usefully she then focuses on the housing situation.

First, she accuses Government of “not focusing on (the 80,000 people) living in squatter and informal settlements where lack of sanitary conditions, human waste and lack of rubbish collection contributes to our environmental problems in a far more significant way?” and then asks: "So what is this solution to the Housing issue in Fiji? "

What is the solution?

"If our economic model is Singapore, then our solution is to aggressively expand housing development through our Housing Authority of Fiji, just as Singapore has successfully done. To fully realise the Singapore Housing model of supplying adequate housing, all economic factors must be taken into consideration. The first hurdle to supplying adequate housing is inadequate availability of land. The solution is for Government to directly purchase or lease land from landowner units to supply more land to the market. It then must allow entities such as the Housing Authority of Fiji and incentivized private developers to scale up land development at a much faster pace. 
 

"Housing Authority delivers no more than approximately 1,500 land lots per year. At this rate it will take over 50 years before they can develop enough land for the merely 80,000 people in squatters and informal settlements and this does not account for any growth in population or building houses on the land which is an even larger problem. 
 

The second hurdle, inadequate development approval framework. Government permits take way too long or are too tedious to obtain. Files go through too many different departments, too many different desks and frequently lost or misplaced. We recognise the Government’s recently announced new initiative to streamline the building permit but this process is just not enough. 
 

"Part of the solution lies in outsourcing to private certifiers who act as agents for the planning authorities to persist with processing and speeding up the backlog of applications, reducing or eliminating lost files and duplicated resources. They would be generally compensated based on productivity. We have more than an adequate supply of labour, Mr. Speaker, both local and also overseas together with capital and the level of entrepreneurship via savvy developers in Fiji to ensure our housing solutions are met.

"This comes with the caveat of course that the laws and tax incentives are applied consistently and expeditiously and risk profiles are acceptable. 

"Now part of our current challenge is that land and house packages are just too expensive and unaffordable for most of our citizens. Housing Authority targets developed serviced land lots for approximately $40,000. Now a small two-bedroom home build to quote today, costs approximately $80,000 bringing the total cost of a land and house package to about $120,000; too expensive for the vast majority of Fijians who live in these settlements. 

Four measures
The solution which I propose, after speaking to the stakeholders are:-

"1. We must design and build medium to high density housing versus just individual land lots on a massive commercial scale. Just like Singapore, to help bring down land and development costs, infrastructure costs and construction costs which can come about from economies of scale, newer building methodologies and technology. This will help generate savings of approximately 20 percent, bringing down the total land and home cost to about a $100,000.

"2. Government must take its constitutionally-mandated role to provide adequate and affordable housing for 80,000 of our poorest people seriously by making a commitment to put all these people into housing over the next 10 years. For example, a dollar for dollar, one for one investment programme. Every dollar that a person gives, the Government gives a dollar so the Government invests $50,000 per home via subsidy if the prospective home owner also commits to $50,000 for the long–term investment.

"3. How much will this cost Government? $80,000 for the people equates to approximately about 20,000 homes if you give an average of four people in a home. 20,000 homes times the $100,000, alright $2 billion but the Government’s commitment would be only 50 percent or a billion dollars. 

"Now if this programme is rolled out over 10 years then this will cost the Government about $100 million annually or only approximately 2.5 percent of the current budget. This is very easily achievable by reprioritising line items within the current budget such as maybe diverting the ECAL proceeds. Which is more important? Climate Change initiatives or putting our poorest people into adequate and affordable housing? If we got really smart … "

 

HON. SPEAKER.- "Order! Order! "

 

HON. L.D. TABUYA.- … 

"we might even be able to design green homes and apartment buildings that qualify for green or Climate Change funding. From international markets which is becoming more readily available, plus you will be killing two birds with one stone. 

 

"4. How much will this cost each family? $50,000 over a 20-year loan at a concessionary interest rate of say 2.5 percent will cost a family approximately $60 weekly or $1.36 per hour if you are working fulltime which is approximately 34 percent of a person’s wage if they are earning $4 per hour.

"Again, very achievable. Now, home ownership for all, even those in informal settlements is a very achievable goal. It is a very exciting goal. Why can we not see it? Why can they not see it? Why are we not doing it? It is because it is not a priority. Government is sleeping at the wheel with respect to housing. It is time to wake up and get serious about fixing our most significant problems instead of just talking about it and offering Band-Aid solutions. "

HON. P.K. BALA.- "You read the Budget. It is in the Budget." 
 

HON. SPEAKER.- "Order, order!"

To conclude "first build on a foundation of love" 
 

HON. L.D. TABUYA.- "Now to conclude Mr. Speaker, the transitions and structural adjustments brought about by this austerity Budget will mean a painful journey ahead, which is why I cannot support this Budget in its current form.

 

"But, this is not end, nor is it a journey that only the honourable Minister of Economy, Ministers or the Government need to take a loan. Just as the Government belongs to all of us so too must the challenges we face. This is not your problem and this is our problem to fix. It is a lesson in humility for the Government to come clean and admit, okay, you failed our people and $1 billion less this year in service delivery to our people. 

"A quarter of the Budget to accomplish this; we need more dialogue and consensus building amongst stakeholders because although we may live as one, no man is an island. 

 

"Looking at the challenges and solutions we face in trying to build more adequate affordable homes that are climate resilient, environmentally conscious and well-planned through properly elected local councils in Fiji, I have realised that a happy home is first built on the foundation of love. 

"Now we can keep criticising each other; my Bible is bigger than your Bible, removing the motes and beams from each other’s eyes, an eye for an eye, but really, Honourable Speaker, what is the universal value that binds us all? It is love. 

 

"Love for our people then ourselves, service to our people to the best of our abilities, to deliver the best services to our people that puts our people first and realises the dreams and aspirations of our people in the first three words of this (2013)  Constitution, ‘We the people.’ Thank you Honourable Speaker. "

 

(Applause) 

 

HON. SPEAKER.- "I thank the honourable Member, for her contribution to the debate." 

Thank you, Lydia, from me, too. This is how an Opposiion should perform.

--ACW

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*Wikipedia on the 2013 Constitution

Fiji's fourth constitution was signed into law by President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on September 6, 2013, coming into effect immediately.^[1][2] It is the first to eliminate race-based electoral rolls, race-based seat quotas, district-based representation, the unelected upper chamber, and the role of the hereditary Council of Chiefs. It vests sole legislative authority in a single-chamber, 50-seat, at-large Parliament, to be first convened following general elections in 2014.^[3] It is also the first ever to grant the right to multiple citizenship (in effect since 2009 by decree,^[4][5] on abrogation of the 1997 constitution), and lowers the voting age to 18.

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