3 Articles (Revised)

The first article I choose was written by S S Singhan, the article is about the land scarcity issues that are taking place in Indonesia due to the 2005 Tsunami. Victims of Tami Nadu, including Nagadattinam, Cuddalore, Kanyakumari & Tuticorin Districts were hit the hardest of the Tsunami victims. Various non-governmental organizations have offered to assist, in the rebuilding of the districts, but land scarcity has become a major issue. A lot of the land that is preferred is being denied due to the local fisherman contesting the elimination of their prime fishing areas. Even though the NGO’s have offered to build up to 800 homes, the government has only enough land to occupy 225 homes, in addition to this the Coastal Regulation Act bans construction of any sort 500 ft. from the sea coast. The purchase of private property owned by wealthy land owners is being delayed because the government can’t seize it legally, & the price the government wants to pay is not in accordance with the price the land owners want to sell it for. Along with the land issues it is becoming difficult to fund the building of necessary infrastructures like streets, water connections, schools, & etc. unfortunately the NGO’s are only prepared to pay for replacement homes only, leaving the government to pay for everything else.
In many of the damaged districts all across Indonesia the victims of the Tsunami are being placed in temporary shelters that are not intended to be permanent housing solutions for the survivors, it could take years to negotiate terms & land. The Nagapatattinam district is currently trying to build a school for the children of the district to replace the school that was destroyed in the Tsunami. However, officials say most of the victims have now recovered from their depression. Even though psychiatric visits have largely decreased, the physically affected victims now also require physiotherapy.
My second article was written by Sen. Will Espero discusses the homeless issue in Hawaii. Veterans make up a staggering 26% of Hawaii’s homeless population. Due to post war mental illnesses, which is the most common illness that contributes & prevents these veterans from establishing a sense of social stability. However one of the most difficult to find housing is the addicts & those who suffer from non combat mental illnesses, who make up a total of 63% of the total homeless population. "Personal responsibility" programs give temporary housing, but require sobriety without providing the adequate help to prevent these individuals from relapsing. Currently nationwide for every 100 American’s who seek affordable housing, there are only 37.84 units available for them. Another cause of the homeless in Hawaii is the ex prisoners. Who require the resources to help them become productive members of society. However majority of the re-offenders commit crimes due to the need of the most basic necessities: food, clothes, housing, $. On top of this fact, because of their records many programs meant to help them rehabilitate are restricted due to the nature of their crimes. Halfway houses are unfair & unrealistic, they expect these individuals to change spontaneously, which is most often impossible. The remaining population of homeless individuals consists of women, some of whom for their survival stay in abusive relationships to keep a place to lay their heads. 37% of the total women that are homeless are homeless due to lose of their homes in divorces; those who are fleeing sexual violence constitutes 10%; and those that leave their parents house 21.5%. Nationwide there is only 15 emergency advice agencies that exist, & women’s boarding houses &/or overnight accommodation facilities are rare.The third article I choose is written by James Rogers, it is about how property zoning & rent control is a major contributor to homelessness. The conservative analysis is only focusing on former homeless individuals, not the future aspect of homelessness. Local property zoning regulations is the serious contributor to the social problem to homelessness. Figures actually say that 3 million Americans are considered homeless.
Why is there less housing to help redirect the growing number of homeless Americans, which perhaps may be the cause in a increase in violence, & the crime in the U.S. The study of zoning laws & rent control indicates the importance to the theory of homelessness. "Mix sixty years of local zoning regulation with one part rent control; add a generous dash of wholesale mental hospital deinstitutionalization, and a severe breakdown in family structures, especially among the poor -- and you have a dandy social tragedy" Tom Main writes, "reforming [cities'] housing policies with an eye to increasing the availability of low-income housing." Benard Seigan said, " zoning appears to lower the price of housing for the rich & raise the housing prices for the poor. Policies like zoning and rent control are prime targets for reform the consequences of these regulations & laws don’t actually show their results for years. Local zoning boards set minimum lot size requirements for residential developments, & permanent more than 1 family to purchase a home under "single family" restrictions. Rent control prohibits allocating apartments through the price system. We also see this becoming a factor in hotels.
Communities have prohibited the construction of cheap housing to eliminate the existence of the lower class. Because there isn’t housing for the poor doesn’t eliminate their presence. However the government since the 1960’s has constructed thousands of housing that is now abandoned but decent to live in. However, "deregulation accomplishes an end that liberals think conservatives ignore, through means that conservatives think liberals ignore. In conclusion Americans demand for nice neighborhoods has been the cause for the overall misfortunate homeless.

Citations
S S Singhan in Madurai, "TN: Land Scarcity Causing Housing Problems for Tsunami Victims" November 7 2005Accessed via
www.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/07tsunami.htmOn June 29, 2008
Sen. Will Espero, "The Faces Of Hawaii’s Homeless" February 13, 2008
Accessed via
www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?2d957daf-39df-4a6c-a539-d2bcf72c77c8On June 29, 2008
James Rogers, "Homelessness, the poor, & local poverty regulation" Accessed via
www.reformed.org/webfiles/antithesis/v1n3/ant_v1n3_homeless.html
On June 29, 2008