NSHP Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Turnbull Sandy River, Clarendon
Remarks
by
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At the
NSHP Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Turnbull Sandy River, Clarendon
On
May 30, 2025
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The New Social Housing Programme is designed to provide housing and shelter for the most vulnerable in our communities and as you can look at the before and after, there is no question that Anita would be in need of shelter, but the programme is more than that. We provide shelter for persons who are victims of natural disasters, usually fires and houses destroyed by floods or hurricanes.
We also provide housing for persons who are the victims of domestic violence and abuse. So far we have gone several such homes that we have provided for women in particular who have suffered abuse, who have had to flee and who have been harmed physically and in that process of having to leave their homes they become literally homeless moving from home-to-home living with friends and Anita, your case is something similar.
Beneficiary Ms Anita:
Yes, because I used to live with my family and I got thrown out by one sibling, and then I started to search for places to stay and I ended up in the wrong relationship where it went bad and got abusive. I tried to get out of that relationship and it got really violent that I even lose my hand. I still do not give up, even though I lose my hand. I just don’t give up. I just continue to go on because I know I have the children to take care of. And I would like to say to you ladies out there, we need to look and think about what we are doing. We need to think about the man that we are taking up putting in our life. We have to be more specific about things we do with even family. We have to lift up our heads and aim for ourselves, get out of this type of life and be more. We are important. We are very important, and we can’t just make one pain keep us down. We have to move on.
When I was going to look about this house, I feel so much pain because I heard a lot of stuff, but when I worked with the team, I realized it’s not everything you hear, you buy. You have to work with the team to realize them, understand them. They’re so caring, they’re so loving, and I understand the love of this party. I went to people before and they have just thrown me off, put me off, and this party open up their heart and let me in. Now I have a wonderful home. No one can abuse me anymore. My children can smile. They can run all around. No one to say so, it is a joy. This day is the day that God has made for me. And I thank God. And I thank you, Mr. Honourable.
Most Honourable Andrew Holness:
And of course, the Jamaican people and the Jamaican taxpayers who made it possible for this project to happen but I’m holding back the tears. I mean, this is a heart tugging moment but I wanted to just quickly shift to another conversation since in this area.
As I’m driving through, I know that roads are an important part of your local concerns, and I can see why. The roads in this part have been in a bad state for an extended period of time. I was speaking to one resident who pointed out from way back in the 90s the roads have been in this state and they have been deteriorating every year. Well, I’m pleased to say that we now have a programme that will start to repair your roads. We have two programmes, one is the REACH Programme, which as I was driving through, I’m seeing some of our roads here being patched and repaired not to the extent that we would want so that it could make an impact, but it is at the beginning, it is starting. And then we have the SPARK Programme where some of your other major roads will be totally rehabilitated, 10 roads in all and that will continue. We intend to ensure that all your roads are repaired.
I’m not here to make a promise to you. It is a commitment. The government of Jamaica, through its current budget and budgets to come, will be repairing it for short-term use and rehabilitating for the long-term your main roads and main corridors. These concerns are being addressed and I want to thank you for your continued patience as we go about repairing the roads, which are so critical for your communities.
This programme here is a representation as well of the government’s commitment to addressing other concerns. So for local communities: roads, water, housing, schools, clinic; those are your key concerns. I see one lady say we need the road more. The community I’m coming from before I came into this constituency, they were saying we need the water more. For some people it’s water, for some people it’s road. For a young lady with children, for her it’s basic school so depending on where you live and your demographic, certain needs might be more pressing than others but what you want to be assured of is that the government has a programme in place to be consistently delivering.
For example, with this programme, every week, I am handing over homes. Today I’m doing four. Last week I did six. The week before I did eight. So, you can see that the issue of persons in need of shelter, that issue is being addressed and you want to be able to see that your bad roads are also being addressed. That programme is just about getting underway, and you’re going to see many, many, many more of your roads being improved.
Water was a main concern here. When I toured here before 2016, and when I toured again in early 2020, some persons were telling me they didn’t have water. I’m coming from a community now, when I toured there before in Mahoe Hill, they didn’t have water. Now they have water, so they don’t remember. Water is not an issue for them anymore. What is that issue for them now, roads? And yes, the government will be dealing with all of these issues. Government has developed the capacity and the wherewithal to deal with these issues.
So, again, let me thank you for your patience. There are a couple things that we have to do before we hand over. Final thing is for the signing of the social contract and the social contract essentially says that Anita agrees to maintain the house in the condition or better than she receive it, that you will live in the house and you won’t rent it out to a friend and go stay with somebody else, that anything you do in this house it must be legal; legal light, legal water. You can’t have anybody inside their doing any scamming. Everything must be legal for the house.
And then, if you’re going to go two stories up on the house, further fortune may smile on you and you decide that you want to extend it and go upstairs, before you do that, you must contact the Ministry of Housing because the house is built to a certain specification and so we want to be able to advise you the best way to go about any form of modification to the house. And then finally that you will continue to be the good and upstanding citizen that you have been in the community. You have gone through a lot and we hope that you will continue to be a beacon of hope to the rest of the community as someone who has gone through a great deal of struggle and has overcome, that it gives hope to others who may be in similar situation to say one day my condition will improve. So, once you agree with these conditions then I’m going to ask you to sign your name, and then we will officially hand the house over to you. You’re to sign here and your Member of Parliament will witness.