286 Units Built under New Social Housing Programme
By: , July 17, 2024
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left), greets New Housing Social Programme (NHSP) beneficiary, Enid Chisholm (right), on arrival in Baulk District, Hanover on July 12. Looking on is Member of Parliament for Western Hanover, Tamika Davis.
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left), looks on as New Housing Social Programme (NHSP) beneficiary, Astley Campbell, highlights the condition in which he lived with his 81-year- old mother in Blenheim, Hanover. Occasion was the handover of a new two-bedroom to the son and mother on July 12.
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Member of Parliament for Western Hanover, Tamika Davis (right), is in discussion with New Housing Social Programme (NHSP) beneficiary, Enid Chisholm, at the handover of her new home in Baulk District, Hanover, on Friday (July 12).The Full Story
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says that more than 286 houses have been constructed and approximately 230 handed over to beneficiaries under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP).
He said that the Government is seeking to partner with other organisations, such as Food For the Poor, to expand and speed up the delivery of dwellings.
An estimated 6,000 units are needed to address chronic housing issues for those in greatest need.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the handover of three houses to NSHP beneficiaries in Hanover on Friday (July 12).
They are Astley Campbell in Blenheim, Enid Chisolm in Baulk District, and Angela Palmer in Campbell Hill.
Mr. Campbell lived with his 81-year-old mother, Clementine Russell, who is blind, in a dilapidated wooden structure. He received the keys to a two-bedroom home.
“My heart is so full today to see that this elderly mom and son duo will have a comfortable place to call their forever home,” the Prime Minister said.
“When I talk about meaningful change that takes into consideration sustainability and resilience, especially in a climate like ours where weather events are common, this is what I’m talking about,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said that a rigorous process is in place to ensure fairness and accountability in the award of government infrastructure contracts, especially those that involve housing.
“None of these contracts are just handed over to anyone to build the house. There is a sense among many persons in Jamaica that Government can take up a works contract and say, ‘my friend here you go’,” he said, noting that “everything goes through a competitive process.”
“There are persons who keep making demands on the Member of Parliament, on government officials [saying], ‘I want a contract; I should get a contract’, and it is not so. It cannot be so. It is illegal. And if any Member of Parliament or any public official gets involved with the giving out of a contract, that is the basis for criminal prosecution.
“I want to make that absolutely clear… public officials, particularly elected representatives, have absolutely no involvement in the vetting or the procurement process for contracts. That is absolutely off limits,” the Prime Minister declared.