Pt Fortin gets $330,000 in housing grants

Housing Minister and MP for Point Fortin Edmund Dillon, on Wednesday, handed out home improvement grants to 22 constituents who applied and qualified for the grant.

Each homeowner received $15,000 in a distribution ceremony at the Point Fortin Borough Corporation Town Hall.

This, he said, was in keeping with the Housing Policy Facilitation and Implementation Unit (HPFIU) which administers the grants given to deserving recipients.

“I am starting off in Point Fortin to give out these grants at $15,000 per person and I will be moving to other constituencies to do the same at a later date,” he said.

This grant will help homeowners who earn less than $5,000 a month, he said, and whose homes need repairs. Dillon said he will be visiting constituencies and handing out the grants to those who qualify.

Of the 22 recipients selected, seven were present in Point Fortin to receive them. They were Wendy Rogers Archibald, Foster Phillip, Lydia Roberts, Jillian Russo Lewis, Anita George, Joyce Thomas and Sean Redhead. The 15 absent recipients will collect their grants during the rest of the week.

Asked about grants for flood victims, Dillon said his ministry has been giving out funds and he knows the Ministry of Social Development is also seeking the interest of flood victims.

While Dillon was handing out grants at the borough, scores of constituents were waiting to apply for the grants and others were being interviewed by HPFUI officers.

HPFUI officer Rory Subiah said this emergency grant is also given to owners whose homes have been damaged by fire, floods or earthquakes.

The Home Improvement Grant is an important dimension to the ministry’s housing programme, Sobiah said, as it aims to enhance the living conditions of vulnerable families and thereby reduce the demand for new housing.