NHT engages small contractors

PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness has said that small contractors are being utilised in the delivery of the 15,000 affordable housing solutions that the administration has committed to provide by March 2020.

He said that the National Housing Trust (NHT) is engaging the services of the contractors under its Labour and Small Materials Programme (LSMP). These contractors, he noted, are learning new skills, including incorporating building technology, thereby developing their capacity to undertake largersale projects.

The prime minister emphasised that construction is becoming less about mixing concrete and more about technology, and persons going into the sector must be “at a certain level where they can use technology and give a higher level of finishing”.

He was delivering the keynote address at the handover of 40 two-bedroom housing units at the Nashville Housing Mews in St Mary on Friday. The development was done under the LSMP.

“This programme is good because it brings in the small contractors; it brings in the labour force within a certain locale; and from a national strategic level, it gives our young people an opportunity to develop the necessary skills,” the prime minister said.

“We want these small contractors to get more of these developments under their belts so that they can become bigger contractors and take on bigger projects,” he added.

The units at Nashville Housing Mews feature a modern, openplan living space concept, allowing for the dining and kitchen areas to flow together seamlessly. Each unit has a floor area of 78 square metres, and they are designed to support vertical and lateral expansion, subject to the approval of the St Mary Municipal Corporation.

The development, which includes 32 serviced lots delivered to beneficiaries in March, was undertaken at a cost of $459 million.