ABSTRACT
The State has periodically attempted to allocate land to those in need of it, although the term ‘squatter’ with its negative connotations has survived longer in the English-speaking Caribbean than elsewhere in the Third World. The colonial administration from the 19th century would periodically attempt land settlement schemes (Blouet 1977). During the recession of the 1930s, for instance, a government committee was created which in 1944 recommended leasing 15,000 acres to resettle the poor (CO 295/643/2, 1945). After independence, the government built some
1 All quotations are from recorded interviews undertaken in the course of the field research, unless otherwise indicated.
