21 families benefit from housing programme

The Rowley government’s philosophy is that every citizen deserves access to affordable homes, said the Housing and Urban Development Minister, adding that the Housing and Village Improvement Programme (HVIP) positively affects families nationwide.

At a handover ceremony on Wednesday at City Hall in San Fernando, Pennelope Beckles said since the programme’s inception, about 240 families from 14 communities have benefited.

Another benefit of HVIP is the creation of job opportunities, she said.

“To date, HVIP has created jobs for over 1,000 people. The programme utilises a humanitarian approach,” Beckles told the beneficiaries.

“We provide you with a house. The onus is now on you to create a home. Your home should be a sanctuary to shelter you from all life storms.”

The minister said HVIP’s model had been adopted for the construction of 130 residential units at the San Fernando Waterfront Re-development project.

The latest beneficiaries are 21 families from Bayshore in Marabella, Embacadere and Navet Road in San Fernando and Moruga.

The project, an initiative of the Housing and Urban Development Ministry, is managed by the Land Settlement Agency (LSA). It is geared at improving housing and living conditions.

San Fernando West MP Faris Al-Rawi said the project was born out of tragedy. He was referring to a fire that destroyed two houses at Bayshore, leaving the families homeless on Christmas morning.

He recalled that as MP, he met with the families and together with the community, they agreed to demolish, clean up, and co-ordinate to replace the houses.

Using the breakdown costs, he shared the information with his Cabinet colleagues, giving birth to the idea for the programme.

“Some of the people in this room know what being invisible is,” Al-Rawi said.

Al-Rawi, who is also the Attorney General, said many residents were “invisible” to get loans from banks without property-ownership documentation.

“We (government) came up with the concept of visibility. By building these homes, these starter homes, we are able to take families from the invisible to the visible. We are able to convert homes into properties, “ Al-Rawi said. “We get to fix our communities.

“How can we talk about preventing crime if the police cars cannot drive down the road, if children are unsafe while playing? How can we talk about educating our children if we do not build community centres alongside homes?”

Though TT is in a difficult financial situation owing to the pandemic, Al-Rawi assured, “ It will get better, but it is not where it should be.”

He encouraged the beneficiaries to guard their homes well and build sensibly.

“When you are building your extension, do it with pride,” he said.

San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello, walking with the aid of crutches, joked that he did not jump through any window. He said he had surgery on December 28 for a knee injury.

Like Beckles and Al-Rawi, who spoke after him, the mayor congratulated the beneficiaries and advised them to take good care of their homes.

LSA’s CEO Hazar Hosein said the programme affects the lives of the most vulnerable.

Its objective is to build capacities in communities. A unit takes three months to complete, Hosein said, adding some were completed in three weeks.

Adrian Leonce, minister in the Housing and Urban Development Ministry, as well as LSA chairman Osley Francis, also attended.