Two Social Housing Units Handed Over To Residents In St. Elizabeth

Two housing units, built under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP), were handed over in the Barbary Hall and Flagaman communities in St. Elizabeth, on Wednesday (February 23), by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

The three-bedroom units were handed over to Doreen Simms in Barbary Hall and Shelly-Ann Russell in Flagaman.

In his address, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of ensuring that the programme remains free from corruption.

“In a project like this, there must be zero corruption of any form. There must not be any corruption with contractors and padding of bills or dragging out work. There must not be any corruption in the beneficiary selection, no corruption with material procurement. Every dollar that is spent in this programme, must go to the beneficiary,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that a committee free of political representatives carried out a rigorous process to ensure that only deserving beneficiaries are selected to benefit from the programme.

“They come into the communities, and they do their social investigations. They ask questions, they check, and they make sure that the person who is being put forward as a beneficiary actually does deserve the benefit, because the destruction of the faith and the hope would be even more if persons who don’t deserve it get it,” he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the programme is still in the “test phase”.

“In the test phase, what we are trying to do is find the best modality of operation, meaning the best way to deliver the house in terms of the contracting processes that are used, the materials that are used, the architectural designs that are used, the lands that are selected, and we have actually done a competition for designs. So now we have better options, we understand the system a little bit better [and] the procurement issues are resolved,” he noted.

The Social Housing initiative, which was announced by the Prime Minister in November 2018, was developed to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and indigent population.

The NSHP falls under the Housing Opportunity Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC).

For his part, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, highlighted that the HOPE Programme was among the most critical initiatives put in place by the Government.

Minister Green, who is also the Member of Parliament for St. Elizabeth Southwestern, said that the housing component of the programme is “at the top of the list in terms of impact”.

He noted that the need for housing is great in the parish and asked that the programme be extended to facilitate even more citizens in need.

Meanwhile, recipient of the housing unit in Barbary Hall, Ms. Simms, who also spoke on behalf of the housing unit recipient from the Flagaman community, Ms. Russell, said they were “overwhelmed”

She thanked the Prime Minister and all stakeholders involved in ensuring that they receive their houses.