Colm: Aim is to foster culture of saving

THE AIM of the Government Savings Bonds (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the Lower House on Friday, is to generate a culture of savings among citizens.

In wrapping up debate on the bill, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who piloted it, said it will allow thousands of citizens to get their dream homes as the bond will be transferable only to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

The bonds, he said, can be used as collateral by HDC applicants, adding that they carried a better interest than banks with 4.5 per cent over a five-year period. He refuted opposition claims that the bonds will be used by investment institutions and said they will be similar to the National Investment Fund bonds which were over-subscribed by $1 billion.

Imbert said the value of the bonds will increase from $2 to $3 billion.

The bill, which went to the committee stage, had a few amendments, including the stripping away of powers from the Finance Minister to increase the number of bonds available for sale.

Opposition MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh said the Government presented unrealistic figures about the number of houses the bonds are able to satisfactorily finance. He said the Government promised some 6,000 homes by 2020 but in four years has constructed only 2,500, with the shortfall near impossible to meet in one year.

He said with 55,000 people now unemployed under the PNM Government, many people lack the wherewithal to purchase the bonds. He called on the Government to “do something to alleviate the plight of the poor people.”

UNC MP Surujrattan Rambachan advised the Government to make a list of all the dilapidated HDC homes and offer them for sale to HDC applicants. The cost of repairing them would be left to the home-owners.

He added that if the Government really wanted to assist would-be homeowners then it should pass a law to regulate the real estate market with the one per cent commitment fee being targeted. Rambachan said there are hidden costs in home ownership that many people aren’t aware of until after they begin the process.

The HDC, he said, should have internal valuators and other avenues to address the additional costs so the buyers are not bombarded with these costs when they purchase their homes.

He said there are public servants who are without homes, some of them in their 40s, and advised that they be able to use a portion of their pension towards the downpayment and mortgage principle for their homes as getting a mortgage at that age is difficult.

In supporting the bill, former housing minister now Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell said the Opposition was being hypocritical in its talk of making housing affordable for the low to middle income earners. He said while housing minister he reduced the cost of constructing a house from over $1 million under the PP government to about half that.

He said the savings plan, which the sale of the bonds can offer, will benefit citizens, particularly poor people,.