Former Trelawny sugar lands to be converted for housing
APPROXIMATELY 148 acres of farmlands in Parnassus, Trelawny, that formerly provided cane for the Long Pond Sugar Factory, are poised for residential construction as the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is now fine-tuning plans to build 800 lowincome houses.
On a recent tour of the area by Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, Member of Parliament (MP) Marissa Dalrymple-Philibert said she was pleased to see the development that has been taking on the land, which became idle in 2017 when the Long Pond Sugar Estate ceased operations, leaving some 30,000 acres of sugar lands out of use.
Efforts have since been made to lease some of the lands to different entities. Sugar Company of Jamaica was allotted 3,600 acres and 635 acres were allocated to Organic Growth Holdings to produce hemp for CBD Oil.
However, while the MP said she is pleased with the structured development, she is unhappy with what appears to be an emerging squatter settlement, and as a consequence, she welcomes the HAJ’s quest to regularise the housing situation.
“I am from the area and I remember a little over five years ago there were no houses here,” said Dalrymple-Philibert. “Now look at all these houses making the area a squatter settlement. However, there is hope, as arrangements are being made to regularise the situation. All the steps will be taken to have them represented by an attorney. At the end of it all, they will have titles to the land.”
Gary Howell, the HAJ’s managing director, was among the persons on the tour and he confirmed that plans were in the pipeline to construct local-income houses to increase the parish’s housing stock.
“We are close to the completion of the arrangement between the Ministry of Agriculture and ourselves regarding the transfer of the land,” said Howell.
PRIVATE FUNDING
Howell also disclosed that the funding for the project will be sourced through private entities as the Government will not be involved as it relates to financing.
“We have to seek our own funding for the construction of these houses. That process is ongoing as we speak,” said Howell, who noted that the houses that will be built will not be on par with other development in the general area as they are designed for a particular group.
“The houses we intend to build will be priced in such a way that people in the lower-income bracket can afford to buy. They will in the main be studio flats and maximum of two bedrooms. With the influx of large numbers of hotel rooms in the parish we intend to cash in on that market,” said Howell.