Government to Complete 114 Houses Under the National Social Housing Programme
Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the Government expects to complete another 114 projects under the National Social Housing Programme for the 2020/2021 financial year. The estimated value of the project is $1.17 billion.
Speaking recently (February 11), at the ceremony to hand over a two-bedroom dwelling to a mother of two, Vanesia Reid, in St. Andrew Southern, Prime Minister Holness noted that as of January 31, 2021, a total of 15 housing units have been completed under the programme.
Prime Minister Holness said:
“A total of 290 applications were received from Members of Parliament across 58 constituencies. Of the 290 applications received, 213 have been approved by the New Social Housing Project Oversight Committee (POC). Currently, there are 28 active construction projects and they range from between five percent completion to 99 percent completion.”
The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation has oversight of Social Housing Programme which aims to improve the housing conditions of the country’s poor and indigent population, through the Housing, Opportunity, Production, and Employment (HOPE) Programme.
Prime Minister Holness noted that even though the programme is designed to bring hope to citizens who are unable to afford solutions, he hopes this intervention will help to spark interest in the investment by others in the community to build likewise.
“This is not a sustainable solution if it is that we are talking about replicating these kinds of houses right across the country for low-income persons. However, the idea behind this project is to intervene in situations where we can identify an indigent person or a housing situation that is going to have an impact on a significant number of persons, such as a large family,” said Prime Minister Holness.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister asserted that the country needs a solution that provides strong, durable, comfortable, aesthetically appealing housing, and easy to construct under five million dollars.
The Government plans to achieve this through employing advancements made in building solution technology over the years.