Rowley promises 8,000 new houses

Addressing a sod-turning ceremony for the NHA’s Vieux Fort housing estate in St James, Rowley hinted there was a major housing component included in the 2005/2006 Budget and the ministry has undertaken significant preparations to initiate this component from the start of the new fiscal year in October. "We are standing by to embark in the next fiscal year, starting October, to build in that fiscal year approximately 8,000 units," he declared.

Reiterating Government’s commitment to build 100,000 houses in TT over the next decade, Rowley said Government has been achieving this objective over the last year through proper utilisation of available urban, suburban and rural areas and the completion of housing projects left unfinished by the former UNC regime. He said Government’s housing programme had "a greater life" in rural and suburban areas over the last three years, and this led to major housing developments in places such as San Fernando, Caroni and Mayaro.

With housing construction underway in those areas, Rowley said Government will now pay greater attention to urban housing through its Urban Renewal Programme which was approved by Cabinet last week. He also said Government is assisting housing development in Tobago through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Tobago House of Assembly and the NHA to develop "three very difficult sites" in the sister isle for housing construction.

Rowley said the old concept of the NHA house (poor construction, poor design, poor quality of living) is being transformed so that "when we produce a product, that product will be better than what was there before."

He said residents in areas such as Federation Park have "no need to fear that creature of the NHA house" because those houses "will be as good as anything that is built in Federation Park." The minister added that the new TT Housing Development Corporation will revolutionise national housing development to ensure that all persons (regardless of their socio-economic status) will be able to afford the type of units being offered through the national housing programme.

Listing the many tangible benefits which individuals and families could derive from the construction of new houses, Rowley said Government is ensuring that proper mechanisms are in place to ensure that new housing estates have both improved structures and "an improved quality of life" for the people who live there. "Every house we build, don’t see it as a number, see it as a family moving from a situation of adversity to a situation of promise and possible prosperity," Rowley declared.