The National Housing Trust

Mr Speaker, my colleague, the member from Western St Andrew, in his presentation made reference to the NHT, for which he has shadow responsibilities.

He commended the Government for having the review of the NHT done and the report provided. I must add that it is indeed a comprehensive report. Among the many agreeable recommendations, one that accords favour with the Opposition, is the recommendation which proposes that a portion of the NHT unclaimed contribution be put towards addressing the issue of upgrading of squatter settlements.

This is the very same point made by the leader of the opposition in his Budget presentation as one of the recommendations coming from the PNP’s National Land Ownership Commission.

Mr Speaker, this phenomenon of squatting is quite a serious one, one worthy of a committed and unified approach to correction as well as prevention. And it has to involve all of Jamaica.

In fact, Mr Speaker, addressing this problem will redound to a sense of security and will enhance the social fabric of this country, resulting in a win-win for all.

Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister in his Budget presentation in March this year trumpeted that he was ‘The Builder’, but to be the builder, Mr Speaker it had to be with the acknowledgement that someone had laid the foundation.

Yes, Mr Speaker, the NHT did not build as many houses as would have been desired during the period 2012-2016, but what is important to note is that this was recognised and corrective efforts were initiated to accelerate the provision of housing solutions by the Trust.

The NHT then reported that one of the challenges it was experiencing and which retarded speed of development, were the long delays in the procurement of services in the allied building professions (these being engineers, quantity surveyors, etc).