Number of New Social Housing Programme Units Delivered Being Increased
By: , June 7, 2022
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (second right), presents the keys for a three-bedroom house to Ewarton St. Catherine, resident, Ivy Smith (second left). Others (from left) are Chairperson, Oversight Committee, New Social Housing Programme (NSHP), Judith Robb Walters, and Member of Parliament for St. Catherine North West, Hugh Graham.
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, addresses a handover ceremony for a three-bedroom unit, developed in Ewarton, St. Catherine under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP), on June 3.The Full Story
The Government is looking to increase the number of units built annually under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP), from just over 300 to 1,000.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says building contractors are now delivering the houses at a faster pace, compared to when the programme commenced in 2018.
“We are improving the systems… contractors are moving faster. They are doing two and three-bedroom houses in four to six weeks. That’s good… that’s saving time, and it can be still faster. People are getting the houses faster, [as] the turnaround is much greater,” Mr. Holness said.
He was speaking at the handing over of a three-bedroom unit in Ewarton, St. Catherine, on June 3.
Noting that when dilapidated dwellings are transformed, it ignites hope in communities, Mr. Holness said “we need to always bring hope to the people and show that good things can happen in the worse of conditions.”
The NSHP, which was conceptualised by Mr. Holness, is geared towards relocating residents in vulnerable communities, and prioritises persons deemed in imminent danger.
It targets the upgrading of tenement yards – one in each constituency – and improving the quality of housing for Jamaica’s neediest citizens.
The programme also includes the provision of indigent housing, with 315 housing units (five per constituency) constructed annually.
Mr. Holness added that in improving the NSHP’s efficiency, increasing its budget, and bringing private sector stakeholders on board, the output can be expanded to accommodate more beneficiaries.
“And, if we use other modalities, we can bring more people into a better standard of shelter, and we are working on that,” he indicated.
The NSHP operates under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme, through the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.