Prime Minister Pleased with Progress of St. Paul’s Lane Housing Development

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says he is pleased with the progress being made on the multimillion-dollar housing development being undertaken at St. Paul’s Lane in St. Andrew West Central.

Mr. Holness, who toured the project on Tuesday (June 27) with Portfolio Manager of the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) at the Caribbean Development Bank, George Yearwood, said the engagement is an integrated approach to community development.

“We are trying to formally settle the community and provide them with proper housing and proper infrastructure, putting in the sewerage; and these are houses that are fully subsidised,” the Prime Minister shared, noting that the undertaking is a model for how informal settlements can be transformed across Jamaica.

The project is being sponsored by the National Housing Trust (NHT) and Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), with support from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).

Mr. Holness pointed out that the development will provide housing for 24 families, adding that plans are being explored to construct an additional 12 units. He advised that within a month or two, the units will be ready for occupation.

As part of the development plans for the community, a state-of-the-art infant school and a senior citizens home will be constructed at St. Paul’s Lane.

The Prime Minister said the school is expected to serve 80 to 100 students in the community.

“It’s self-contained, lessens the travel time; it will have a creche so parents who have to work will have somewhere they can take their children. In the whole development, there is a community park and a community centre,” he shared.

Mr. Holness, who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency, noted that the goal is to construct 12 to 15 senior citizens’ units, which should be sufficient to deal with the elderly indigent who have no one to care for them.

Meanwhile, Mr. Yearwood said he is looking forward to assisting in financing what he described as a “very valuable project for the community”.

JSIF Managing Director, Omar Sweeney, who indicated that the Fund manages the BNTF portfolio on behalf of the Government, pointed out that Jamaica, which is now in the 10th BNTF cycle, has been involved since the fifth.

He also advised that Mr. Yearwood is visiting Jamaica in respect of the handover of a therapeutic centre which was funded under BNTF 9, and also to look at projects like the development being undertaken.

For his part, JSIF Chairman, Dr. Wayne Henry, said he is pleased to be associated with community development and renewal as well as the general thrust and priority of the Government in focusing on urban renewal.