Five St Andrew families get new homes
Five St Andrew families who lived in substandard conditions now have decent dwellings under the Government’s New Social Housing Programme (NSHP).
Prime Minister Andrew Holness handed over the units to the beneficiaries at locations in West Rural, East Central, and Eastern St Andrew last Friday. At a ribboncutting ceremony in Iron River, West Rural St Andrew, where a $5.8 million house was presented to Patrick Spencer, Holness said that while the process under the NHSP “can be overwhelming at times, we must ensure accountability for public funds”.
“There are many layers of administration in place to ensure that every dollar that is spent is wisely spent, is efficiently spent, and that there is no corruption in how the resources are used; that itself takes time,” he said. “There are processes for procurement, approvals and permits; and then we have to secure the legal rights to wherever we are building. All
of that takes time, in addition to the time it takes to assess the applications and the [applicants].”
Holness said that in addition to
building housing units, persons can also benefit from housing grants for general repairs. He noted that Spencer had initially applied for
a housing grant but following an assessment, he was referred to the NSHP.
“This recommendation came through the social assistance unit. So, there are several routes to the social housing programme. I believe Patrick would have been the third or fourth beneficiary that would have come through that route,” he noted. Spencer expressed gratitude to Holness, Member of Parliament for the constituency Juliet Cuthbert Flynn,
the NSHP and supporting agencies for the new home.
Under the NSHP, all 63 MPs are allowed to submit the names of five persons in their respective constituencies for housing support. The programme was established in 2018 by the prime minister to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and disadvantaged population by providing quality, affordable and sustainable dwelling units.