200 Units Under NSHP by Year End
By: , September 15, 2023
Photo: JIS File
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The Government expects to deliver some 200 housing units to vulnerable Jamaicans under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) by the end of the year.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the disclosure as he handed over the 158th unit under the programme at Old Road in Kitson Town, St. Catherine, on Tuesday (September 13).
The new two-bedroom house was presented to Shanice Leslie.
The Prime Minister said that steps are being taken to improve the efficiency and speed of delivery of units under the programme.
He noted that construction costs have been reduced from about $8 million per unit at the inception of the programme in 2018, to between $6 million and $5 million currently.
“It shows that we have improved the mechanism for delivery, both in terms of administration and the actual construction. The challenge that we have now is to scale up,” the Prime Minister noted.
He said that the Government is in a “good place” to finance infrastructure expansion, including the provision of houses, but pointed to the need to upgrade the skills of contractors.
As such, the National Works Agency (NWA) will be developing an incubator that will provide these professionals with the support they need to operate more efficiently and effectively.
The NSHP, which was initiated by the Prime Minister, is overseen by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.
The Prime Minister reminded that the programme is designed to benefit the country’s most needy, who are living in circumstances where they have no means or prospects of improving their housing condition.
“We have to make sure that the people who get the benefit actually deserve it,” he said.
“So, while we have set the criteria for benefit, we have also established a parallel committee that is headed by technical persons with the relevant expertise, accounting, social work, and engineers to add oversight on the project,” Mr. Holness pointed out, noting that although Members of Parliament recommend beneficiaries, they do not have the final say.