The Prime Minister says improving living conditions across the country is connected to a desire to ensure social justice for all Jamaicans and reduce criminality.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has underscored that the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) forms a critical part of the Government’s deliberate and strategic approach to fighting crime.

The Prime Minister said that this housing thrust, could positively impact children’s learning and resultantly stem the number of youths falling into deviant and criminal behaviour. 

“The thinking is that if we improve the conditions under which people live, it will lift the general well-being of the society,” said Prime Minister Holness.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister expressed that the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC) intends to reach the goal of completing 315 social housing units by year-end. In addition, Prime Minister Holness outlined the bureaucracy of the NSHP and assured the public of the continued objectivity and transparency which have underpinned the programme’s success thus far.

“It goes through a very rigorous process of evaluation. Once that evaluation is done, we try to fulfil the legal requirement for building a house,” the Prime Minister said.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness explained that the houses under the NSHP are built through a process involving beneficiary identification by Members of Parliament, impartial beneficiary selection, legal security of the land, alignment with building codes, and a competitive procurement process. Furthermore, the Prime Minister added that his leadership style of constantly challenging the MEGJC team to modify delivery strategies and improve output should result in the monthly handing over of between four and six houses per constituency.

In this regard, Prime Minister Holness said: “The direction now is that we’re going to be moving much more quickly, having the template and understanding the programme.”

Prime Minister Holness highlighted the Government’s commitment to devising inclusive strategies that assist in meeting the target of 70,000 housing solutions, so all Jamaicans can fulfil their dreams of homeownership.

The Prime Minister was speaking last Friday (March 25, 2022) at a handing over ceremony of a social housing unit in Shot Over District, East Portland.