PM explores national housing bond

THE Prime Minister has floated the idea of a national housing bond as an investment where people can deposit money which could then be used to buy houses from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

At a key-distribution ceremony at Lake View Housing Development, Reid Road, Point Fortin, yesterday, Dr Rowley said discussions were still taking place with the Minister of Finance to determine the feasibility of such a programme.

People who wanted to participate and who hoped to buy a house soon through the HDC programme, he explained, “could pay into a savings bond which would give a pool of funds to drive the housing programme.”

The aim would be that “when the house becomes available they would have been saving and would have that money available to conclude the transaction.”

He said those savings would provide a pool of cash in addition to what the government or the private sector brought to the programme.

Discussions were still ongoing,he said.

Rowley also touched on the recent arrests of several people at the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation for allegedly siphoning over $20 million from the corporation.

He said the Ministry of Finance had been instructed to do forensic audits at all 14 corporations, as there was reason to believe that there was some form of corruption among them.

While describing them as small fish, he said “the corrupt act” had become or was still “a part of the corporate and public life in TT.”

On the Lake View development, where 71 families received the keys to the new homes, Rowley said the project had started in April 2006 but had been suspended several times in the intervening years. The project was restarted in January 2016.

It is expected to accommodate 422 mixed family units comprising two- and three-bedroom units, townhouse and duplex units.

Nine members of the protective and defence force received keys at the ceremony.