'Lucky bunch' gets THA homes

Kinnesha George-Harry

FOURTEEN lucky people have received keys to units at Homes of Adventure Phase II, Townhouse Units.

Speaking at Monday’s distribution ceremony hosted by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Division of Settlements, Urban Renewal and Public Utilities at the courtyard of Homes of Adventure Phase II, Secretary Clarence Jacob thanked the recipients for being patient. One home-owner, Sherwin Williams, said he had been waiting for over five years and was grateful to finally get his keys.

Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, in his feature address, told the new home-owners they were a “lucky bunch." He also pledged the THA's commitment to "the delivery of certain kinds of goods and services" and advised them not to take that lightly.

He said, “Those of you who would soon be in possession of these houses, in a manner of speaking, are indeed fortunate and you are fortunate because we have a long list of persons who are waiting to be housed. Secondly, we do not have a Tobago HDC (Housing Development Corporation) and therefore the construction of these houses would have come from our budgetary allocation, and in the context of over the last two years, that allocation has been reduced; but not withstanding that fact, we were committed to complete these houses.”

Jacob urged the home-owners to put aside whatever differences they might have and live in harmony

He said, “You are in a new environment and I want you all to live in love and live in peace. I have five fingers on my hand and all of them are not the same length and the same size, so you have difference in personalities in your housing area, but I want you all to live in love, live in peace and smile at your neighbours.”

Charles echoed Jacob’s sentiments as he called for the families to be their brother's keeper.

Charles said, “I say to you that the best security person you can get is a nosy neighbour…So if only to ensure that persons keep a look out for you, you need to ensure that you bond with those persons with whom you have to live.

"One of the challenges in respect of settlements such as this is a certain kind of anonymity, where persons go about their business not taking time off to greet meet and to know who their neighbours are – that is a dangerous thing. It was never meant for man to live alone and I don’t mean that in the narrow biblical context… What I mean is that no man is an island and therefore there is a certain kind of interdependence that ought to characterise the way we live and therefore we are commending to you, the new home-owners, to integrate yourselves into the existing community.”

The new home-owners included Camille Gomez, Ria Jones, Rayann Davis, Renee Sampson, Arlette Boucher, Akeime Morrison, Sherwin Williams and Kerron Peters to name a few.