WILLEMSTAD – PAR faction leader Quincy Girigorie is demanding answers from Infrastructure Minister Charles Cooper over what he describes as missed opportunities for the government to acquire relatively inexpensive land and use it to address Curaçao’s growing affordable housing problem.
In a series of parliamentary questions submitted on August 17, Girigorie focuses specifically on “onverdeelde boedels,” or undivided estates, arguing that these properties could provide the government with an alternative source of land for residential development.
The questions challenge recent statements by Cooper that the government does not have sufficient land available to develop affordable housing. Girigorie wants to know whether the government has a policy for acquiring land from undivided estates and, if so, why several opportunities have apparently been rejected.
Plantage Vetter puts policy under scrutiny
Central to the questions is the Plantage Vetter case, in which a court issued a ruling on August 17 concerning an undivided estate.
According to Girigorie, the government had an opportunity to acquire the property for a very low price and subdivide it into affordable residential plots, initially for families and subsequently for other interested buyers. The government, however, declined to take over the property.
Girigorie claims this is not an isolated case. According to the PAR leader, there have now been at least four cases involving undivided estates in recent years in which the government declined to acquire and develop the land.
He specifically asks Cooper to explain why the government did not take over and develop land in the Vetter and Jan Abel cases.
The questions put the spotlight on an apparent contradiction that PAR wants the minister to clarify: if insufficient government land is one of the obstacles to affordable housing construction, why is the government not taking advantage of opportunities to obtain additional land through undivided estates?
Could government create affordable building plots?
Rather than concentrating only on government-built social housing, Girigorie is proposing another route: making affordable long-lease plots available so working families and young professionals can build their own homes.
PAR argues that increasing the supply of affordable residential land could become one component of the solution to Curaçao's housing shortage. The faction therefore asks whether Cooper considers undivided estates a viable way for the government to acquire land at reasonable prices and make it available to local families.
Girigorie also wants the minister to put a price on such a strategy.
One of his five questions asks how much it would cost the government to prepare and subdivide a property into, for example, 75 residential plots of 400 square meters each. The answer could provide a clearer indication of whether government-supported land development could offer a financially viable alternative to relying primarily on completed housing projects.
Housing increasingly beyond reach
The parliamentary questions come amid concerns about rapidly rising property prices. Girigorie states that competition from foreign buyers has contributed to higher prices in Curaçao's housing market, although the letter does not provide supporting market statistics for that claim.
According to the PAR leader, a three-bedroom family home now costs at least Cg 350,000, putting homeownership increasingly beyond the reach of working families and young professionals whom Curaçao hopes to attract back after studying abroad.
The letter therefore goes beyond the Plantage Vetter dispute and asks Cooper to explain the government's broader strategy.
Girigorie wants the minister to state what policy is currently being followed regarding undivided estates and, more importantly, what concrete housing policy the government intends to pursue during the next three years to make homeownership attainable for working Curaçao families and young local professionals.
The minister has been asked to respond through the Curaçao Parliament.