Proman invests $4.7m in Habitat for Humanity

For the third time, methanol and ammonia producer Proman has partnered with Habitat for Humanity TT, this time investing $4.7 million in the organisation over the next three years.

Proman and Habitat announced the three-year renewal of their partnership on Friday in a news release.

It said Proman would continue to support Habitat’s safe housing programmes aimed at reducing the level of vulnerability to hazardous weather events in communities across the country, improve disaster readiness, and deliver essential training and skills to improve resilient construction techniques for homes.

“This is Proman’s third national partnership with Habitat, as part of the company’s long-term commitment to sustainable skills development and supporting local communities. The initiative will directly support several of the UN’s core global development goals, by increasing the provision of safe and affordable shelter and strengthening disaster risk resilience in TT.”

Claus Cronberger, managing director of Proman Trinidad, welcomed the partnership renewal and expressed his pride the company contributing to improving people’s the lives across the country.

“Resilient and affordable housing continues to be a challenge in many parts of the world, and the work that Habitat does makes a huge difference in enabling families to feel safe within their homes. I also look forward to joining my colleagues from across our family of companies on Habitat’s volunteer site builds, working together to help bring this partnership to life.”

Jennifer Massiah, national director of Habitat TT, thanked Proman for its commitment to adding resiliency to and assisting communities and vulnerable families.

“Through this relationship, many families in Trinidad and Tobago have been able to have their homes fortified against the adverse effects of high winds and floods through our disaster mitigation programme. Hundreds of others, especially the young adults and those with minimum construction skills were able to build their capacity through our construction technology course.”

One woman who suffered significant damage to her family’s home in San Juan due to extreme rainfall and high winds called Habitat TT’s intervention a miracle.

“The foundation from our home was ripped out and we gave up all hope. My nine neighbours were also scared as all of our houses would now be in line to go down with another landslide. Habitat visited and I thought to myself, here we go again, another group visiting for the ‘umpteenth’ time. I then saw materials being delivered and realised that it was for my repairs. Truly, a miracle occurred as we received the help we needed to be safe in our homes.”

While Proman’s support for Habitat TT started in 2012, in 2019 it established a two-year partnership with Habitat for Humanity International to assist vulnerable communities with long-term safe housing projects in TT, Europe, and the United States.

The partnership provided direct assistance to over 6,000 individuals and families while, in TT, it helped over 140 people complete Habitat’s construction technology programme, which equips trainees with life-long resilient housing construction skills.