HAJ on Track with Housing Solutions

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is on track to provide affordable housing solutions to meet the Government’s target of 70,000 units to promote planned housing schemes and decrease illegal settlements.

Providing an update during the Agency’s Open Day at its head office on Caledonia Avenue in St. Andrew on September 6, Chairman, Board of Directors, HAJ, Norman Brown, said the agency is well under way to meet its target.

“Under the Government’s 70,000 houses, the HAJ has been charged with doing 14,000. Presently we are embarking on about 6,500 under construction all across Jamaica and so we have another 7,500 houses to be constructed, and we are well under way with our plans to achieve this target,” Mr. Brown informed.

The Open Day formed part of the agency’s 15th anniversary celebration since being rebranded.

The 70,000 units will be built through the collaborative efforts of the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the HAJ.

The initiative was announced by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

“At present, we have seven projects ongoing all across Jamaica and, also, we have another eight projects, possibly about 5,000 additional houses that are either in planning or at the beginning of their implementation stage, and that is a credit not just to the Board or the Management, but to the entire team of HAJ folks,” Mr. Brown said.

The Chairman added, too, that regularisation and infrastructural work have been undertaken in communities islandwide.

These include communities in St. Ann, St. James and Clarendon.

Mr. Brown pointed out that the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) has been integral in this undertaking, adding that the HAJ team is currently in Grange Pen, St. James.

He said the team remains committed to delivering homes and building communities.

“It is a very challenging task to steer this agency, because as I have stated before, construction is a very risky business, things can go wrong very easily if the team is not focused on doing the right things at the right time,” Mr. Brown argued.

“The HAJ team has displayed that level of competence, so that now we are able to deliver houses to people and really be proud about doing it because that is the satisfaction that we get when we create communities and see families acquiring homes, growing their children in a safe and organised environment… with all the amenities that you need. That is what gives us the satisfaction that we are doing something right,” he added.

The HAJ is a self-financing land and housing development company that provides shelter solutions for Jamaicans islandwide.

Owned by the Government of Jamaica, the HAJ falls under the portfolio of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Its core services include providing shelter solutions on the open market and the upgrading and regularisation of informal settlements.