'Intimidation stretching housing budget'

Both sides are to blame says Lord Mayor

Paramilitary intimidation since the loyalist and republican ceasefires is placing Northern Ireland's public housing budget under strain, Belfast's Lord Mayor has said.

Northern Ireland Housing Executive officials are spending £3.5 million a year on average relocating families intimidated out of their homes since the 1994 ceasefires, Democratic Unionist Party mayor and assemblyman Sammy Wilson said.

Answering questions from the Northern Ireland Assembly's social development committee, Mr Wilson said that since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement peace accord in 1998 the amount of money spent on the rehousing scheme had risen "up to three times the budgeted figure".

'Marking out territories'

He added: "This year already, £1.5m set aside is estimated to be only 33% of what will be needed.

Sammy Wilson: Much needed resources are being diverted

"Last year, the figure exceed £6m against a budgeted figure of £1.5m.

"The year before, an astronomical £10.5m million was spent.

"Clearly, paramilitaries are marking out their territory and everyone is suffering."

Mr Wilson said money which could be spent on housing was being diverted to deal with cases of intimidation.

Maintenace delayed

This was also causing delays in maintenance and home improvements, he said.

Paramilitaries are marking out territories says Wilson

"Yet the government turns a blind eye to this campaign.

"IRA/Sinn Fein are up to their necks in this pogrom yet their members are permitted to remain in government. Loyalist paramilitaries are not blameless either."

Mr Wilson added that the province's housing budget was "under immense strain" with home conversions for disabled people running a year behind.

"Major improvements to homes - some of which have had no work done for 30 years - have been cancelled because of lack of money," he said.

"There is an urgent need to provide additional money to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to pay for the security burden which it is being asked to carry and also to restore the 6% cut in housing expenditure imposed over the last three years."