Vanesia Reid Grateful For House Received Under National Social Housing Programme

In the last four years, Vanesia Reid repeatedly walked to her community’s St. Andrew South Constituency Office to ask for assistance in getting a house, which she was in dire need of.

Her persistence paid off, as on February 11, she received the keys to her new two-bedroom house, which was constructed under the National Social Housing Programme (NSHP), at a cost of J$9,471,005.

The keys were handed over by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness during a ceremony held in Trench Town, St. Andrew.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation has oversight for the construction of these homes, under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme.

The programme was developed to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and indigent population.

Ms. Reid, a Records Officer in the Criminals Record Office, told JIS News that she was happy and thankful for receiving her new home.

“I’m really grateful for becoming the owner of this beautiful house. I just want to say thanks to everyone who has made it possible, and I’m really grateful,” she said.

Ms. Reid recalls the road she had to travel to get the house, which was not easy for her.

“I was having so many disputes with my family members whom I was living with; that gave me the drive to go to the constituency office where I spoke with the Member of Parliament and members there and they said that they had some programme going on and they would see what is best and if they could get one for me in 2016/2017,” she said.

“A year after I applied for the programme, they said they didn’t get a response as yet, but I continued to go there and one day they called and told me that I should come to the office because they got a paper for us to sign, because the thing we applied for is coming through,” Ms. Reid added.

She further stated that the house, which was constructed on land provided by the Catholic Church, will help her to be more independent.

“This is a life-changer for me because I was living with family and it was very rough. We had arguments, fights and different disputes, and I’m really grateful that that will be no more,” she said.

Ms. Reid lost her mother at a young age, thus she has been living with family in a tenement yard in Arnett Gardens for the majority of her life.

Before receiving her home, Ms. Reid was living in a dilapidated one-room board structure with communal facilities.

“This will make a big difference where I have my own space, my own privacy and my children will have their own space and privacy too,” the mother of two children, a seven-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son, told JIS News.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Holness encouraged Ms. Reid to take care of her new property. He also reiterated the objectives of the NSHP.

“The programme is designed to address people who are in need, people who can’t get houses going the regular method, but it is also designed to bring hope to communities that are in need of such interventions,” Mr. Holness said.

“The recipients are very grateful and it is transformational to their lives and to the community,” he added.

A total of 290 applications have been received from Members of Parliament across 58 constituencies. Of the 290 applications, 213 have been approved by the NSHP’s Project Oversight Committee (POC).

As at January 31, 2021, a total of 15 housing units have been completed under the NSHP at a cost of $120 million.