More Than $2 Million Donated to Indigent Housing Fund

More than $2 million flowed into the coffers of the Department of Local Government’s Indigent Housing Fund on Thursday (Nov. 27), as private interests made good on their promise to contribute to the fund.
The heftiest contributions came from the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, which gave $1 million; Digicel Jamaica Limited with $500,000; while Vehicles and Supplies contributed $250,000.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague (left), accepts a cheque for $1 million from Director, Adventist Development Agency, of the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, Pastor Wentworth Henry, at the Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, on November 27. The money is a contribution to the Indigent Housing Initiative, launched by the State Minister in June, 2008.

At a fundraising breakfast for private sector interests held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Local Government, Robert Montague, told JIS News, that other persons also made significant contributions to the fund outside of the glare of the camera.
“You have to remember that there are some people who do not give in public and who do not want to be identified with their contributions,” the State Minister said. “We are not in a position at this time to reveal the amount of money pledged so far,” he added.
He informed that several churches are still tabulating the contributions they had received from their members.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague (left), gives a listening ear to Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer, at the Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston, on November 27. Occasion was the Indigent Housing Fundraising Breakfast with the Private Sector, at which contributions were made to the Indigent Housing Initiative, launched by the State Minister in June, 2008.

Mr. Montague announced this initiative in his Sectoral Debate presentation in Parliament on June 24, 2008, which is designed to raise some $50 million to provide adequate housing for the country’s indigent.
He asked all churches in Jamaica to take up a special collection on Saturday, July 12, and Sunday, July 13, and called on all Jamaicans to contribute to the effort. He also requested National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors, who have not collected their returns, to donate at least 50 per cent of this to the fund.
Mr. Montague also called on his fellow Members of Parliament to join him by making available $250,000 each, from their Constituency Development Fund.