- 127 - financial support from UNDP, and has executed a number of projects that were considered necessary by the communities themselves. It is at present negotiating with the Inter-American Development Bank a loan of about $50 million intended for social development and job creation. This poses a difficult problem of coordination between the two agencies, which are pursuing the same objectives. 46. The main thrusts of the housing policy defined by the Ministry of Housing are summarized as follows in a document entitled "A brief view of housing policies" that was issued in April 1995: To encourage, implement, facilitate and promote the production of dwellings, mainly for low-income groups, with the help of the private sector; To lower the cost of basic construction materials by reducing planning norms and specifications for dwelling construction, in order to enable the private sector to produce and finance dwellings at a lower cost, so that they will be accessible to a greater number of the poorest people in the country; To provide, as Ministry housing units, decent dwellings with a minimum floor area of 42 square metres; To establish mechanisms for obtaining loans more easily, encouraging self-management, so as to improve the standard of living of the population; To facilitate the approval of land-use plans by creating a single application centre for housing projects of social value. C. Specific examples of housing problems San Miguelito 47. The settlement of what was originally a mere hamlet began in the early 1950s with a small group of 20 families, who were living in subhuman conditions; it then became a town district, whose inhabitants remained very disadvantaged. Through their bold and determined efforts, the inhabitants secured the designation of San Miguelito as a special district by a decree of 30 July 1970 by General Omar Torrijos. The first community assembly was elected in August 1970 and designated representatives in 15 zones. Gradually, and as a result of successive take-overs, San Miguelito has become a large city, whose population is now approaching 400,000. 48. Within San Miguelito, which covers a very large area, there are some relatively comfortable housing zones and others which remain very precarious. This is the case with the Santa Librada community, which the mission visited. This community has a population of some 3,000, including 500 children, and is suffering from three main problems: the lack of drinking-water, the lack of an access road to serve the dwellings, and the lack of a school. The Government is considering a project, to be financed by an FES loan. But the essential problem, here as in many other communities, is that of the legalization of the ownership of the land. Great uncertainty exists