HAJ to Provide 845 Housing Solutions in Portmore
October 15, 2008The Full Story
Eight hundred and forty five housing solutions, will be made available in Portmore, St. Catherine, by the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ).
This was disclosed by Managing Director of the HAJ, Joseph Shoucair, in an interview with JIS News.
“The Portmore project is divided into three phases. Phase 1 consists of 379 serviced lots. Phase 2A, which is presently under consideration, will comprise 206 serviced lots, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this financial year, which ends on March 31, 2009,” Mr. Shoucair informed.
“Phase 2B will consist of 260 housing units. Infrastructure works will be implemented under a separate contract from the houses. These works have been tendered and we expect to obtain approval for the award of the contract by the end of December 2008, for work to start early next year,” he told JIS News.
The HAJ is currently in the process of prequalifying Grade 1 contractors registered with the National Contracts Commission (NCC), to build the 260 detached two-bedroom houses at Portmore Villas in St. Catherine.
According to Mr. Shoucair, the units are intended to benefit low to middle income persons, preferably first time home owners, from both the private and public sectors, who are National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors, or who can access mortgage financing from other sources.
“These persons cannot afford units in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) and opt to live in Portmore, despite having to commute to Kingston to work,” he pointed out.
Grade 1 contractors must be registered with the NCC, must be tax compliant and provide a valid tax compliant Certificate at the time of the submission of the pre-qualification document. There are less than 10 Grade 1 building contractors currently operating in Jamaica, according to Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang.
The NCC is an independent anti-corruption Commission, which supplements the role and functions of the independent Parliamentary Commission of the Contractor General. Its primary objectives are the “promotion of efficiency in the process of the award and implementation of Government contracts, and ensuring transparency and equity in the awarding of such contracts.”
