Low-Cost Housing Solutions For St. Andrew East Rural Residents

Each year, four residents of the St. Andrew East Rural constituency will now benefit from low-cost, high-quality, durable housing under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) programme.

This was announced by Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Juliet Holness, who informed that her summer intern, Rolando, has designed the housing solutions, which will comprise 400 square feet of adaptable space, each at a cost of less than $750,000.

“This is priceless,” Mrs. Holness asserted, while making her contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday (October 26).

The MP, who is also Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, noted that the low-cost solution the intern has devised will see the CDF social housing allocation facilitating more than it usually does.

“Our CDF housing allocation would normally provide a window, a door, a few sheets of ply, zinc, or a couple bags of cement, but it could never build one single house,” she pointed out.

Mrs. Holness  added that the houses are to be built with the assistance of the community through the provision of labour.

Turning to indigent housing, which she stressed is “a critical pillar for how we care for our most vulnerable”, the MP informed that two houses facilitated by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, as well as one under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme have been provided for this cohort.

“The HOPE Programme has already approved two additional units to be constructed this financial year,” she said.

In the meantime, Mrs. Holness informed that 70 housing units that are self-sufficient, environmentally responsible and sustainable have been provided for residents, including those who reside in Caribbean Terrace, which has been a longstanding challenge due to the adverse effects of climate change and its associated environmental issues.

“I am pleased to further report that this Government provided 21 units exclusively to the residents of Caribbean Terrace at a discount each of $6 million,” she said.

Mrs. Holness encouraged constituents to consider resilience, sustainability and safety, in their choice of spaces to build homes.

“We continue to keep it real in expressing grave concern for persons choosing to establish residences in unstable or ecologically vulnerable areas,” she said.

The MP further stressed that citizens must exercise collective responsibility for establishing sustainable and compliant communities.

“In this information age, our citizens need to become informants, informers, and information agents, as we inform each other of the dangers and risks of settling in these vulnerable areas, sharing mitigation strategies, as well as informing the Government where these settlements have begun, or seem to be developing, so that we can engage in early intervention,” she said.