Regularisation Of Grange Pen In St. James Progressing Well

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) says the major regularisation and infrastructural project being undertaken in the Grange Pen community in Lilliput, St. James, is progressing well.

Senior Manager for Project Development and Design at the HAJ, Rudolf McKenzie, points out that several key components of the project are now in place.

The update was given during a recent community meeting, hosted by the HAJ to discuss the project, which is being spearheaded by the HAJ with funding of close to $1 billion provided by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

Ground was broken for the project in 2019, which includes the upgrading of the water supply and sewerage systems, construction of storm drains, regularisation of citizens’ electricity supply, and road rehabilitation, and should impact some 535 households in the Grange Pen community.

“We have upgraded roadways, constructed storm water drainage, added a sewerage network and improved the water supply system in the area. So far, the project is 72 per cent complete,” Mr. McKenzie informed.

“We divided it (the project]) into two sections. The road coming [into the community] acts as the divider. Section one is 100 per cent complete; section two, we are at 36 per cent, and the roads in section one that were completed are roads 11, 10, four, five, two, six and seven. We are prioritising work in section two, on roads one, three, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20,” he added.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Member of Parliament for St. James East Central, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, argued that if tourism is to mean anything on the island, it must impact communities.

He underscored the importance of community members having a sense of ownership and belonging.

“The only way to be sure that it is yours, which is important and critical, is for you to have a representation that says to the world, this piece of rock belongs to me, and so we have worked on that,” Mr. Bartlett said.

As part of the proceedings, residents who had fully paid for their lots in the community, were given status letters by the HAJ.

“We wanted to make sure that you pay for it, and some of you have done so already, and those of you who have done that already, we are giving you the first stage of your ownership; we are giving you the letters that you can take to the bank and elsewhere and show that, yes, this is yours. When the infrastructure is finished, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, will come and deliver titles to every one of you who has paid for your lot,” Mr. Bartlett said.

The Minister pointed out that Phases One and Two of the project should be completed by December of this year.

He encouraged residents to take care of the community’s infrastructure.

For his part, Managing Director at the HAJ, Dr. Patrick Thelwell, told residents that projects of that nature are what “drive the HAJ, making families part of the national economy and transforming the trajectory and the lives of the people that we serve”.

Dr. Thelwell noted that on completion of the project, the HAJ would have contributed to Vision 2030 “by making Jamaica, for you, the place of choice to live, work, raise families one community at a time”.

He also thanked the residents for their patience with the duration of the project, adding that this is the case when work is being done in settled communities.

“It is actually easier to do development in ‘greenfield’ areas. When we have to go in where people live to do development, it is inherently more difficult. Thank you for your patience and the HAJ team and myself look forward to continue serving you,” Dr. Thelwell said.