New housing plan for Tobago

The agreement was reached between Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley, THA Chief Secretary Orville London, and ministry and THA officials in Port-of-Spain this week.

The Housing Ministry and the THA have concluded that Tobago needs an average of 400 new homes annually in order to satisfy its housing demands and the TT Housing Development Corporation (TTHDC) (which replaced the National Housing Authority as the ministry’s main executing agency) will be intimately involved in expediting the overall housing programme in the sister isle. Dr Rowley said while Tobago’s housing shortage was not as acute as Trinidad’s "those in need must be met as part of the overall housing programme." The TTHDC will work with the THA’s Division of Settlements to complete construction on three housing sites in Blenheim, Castara and Roxborough and other sites identified for development. Infrastructural works on the first three sites are expected to be completed by January 2006 and tenders for housing construction will be invited this month.

The TTHDC will also facilitate development of a master plan for the Adventure and Courland Estates. The Housing Ministry and the THA also discussed a memorandum of understanding between the TTHDC and the THA to guide the collaborative process. Note was also taken of the fact that some Tobagonians who need homes may have access to land but not the means to build on it. Suggestions were made by the Housing Ministry that the THA should consider a component in its housing programme that would allow landowners access to the necessary support funding as part of the programme. The Housing Ministry and THA also discussed the start of the Infill housing programme in western Tobago which will utilise the services of small contractors to build houses on single lots in existing developments.

Since returning to office in 2002, the PNM has promised to build 100,000 houses over the next ten years to meet the country’s housing demands.