Government to build 100 new homes in Caura by 2025

HOUSING and Urban Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis says government will build 100 new town houses at Caura, El Dorado, by December 2025. She added that 72 of them will be completed by June 2025.

Speaking at the Housing Development Corporation's (HDC) sod-turning ceremony for the Caura Housing Development on March 19, Robinson-Regis said the 11.3 acre plot of land designated for the project fell within an area she called a cradle of Spanish heritage. She said her ministry was continuing to embark on a journey that was a promise for all prospective homeowners.

She described the housing project as a major undertaking that would cost the government approximately $170 million, calling it the single largest investment in Caura in recent years.

Robinson-Regis said it was an exciting time as approximately 500 people would be employed through each phase of the construction, with most of the workers coming from the Tunapuna community.

"This development will now join a host of other housing developments built by the successful PNM administration in this area."

Robinson Regis said the government, through the HDC, was continuing its drive to increase the stock of housing available to eligible and deserving citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

"The government recognises only too well that there are different models of home ownership that we must explore as we cater to various segments of the population with differing resource capabilities."

She spoke about another sod-turning ceremony at the Citrus Close Housing Development apartment complex at Eastern Main Road, Laventille, that took place last week.

That development will have four-storey apartment buildings and is expected to house 191 families, with 148 three-bedroom apartments and 43 two-bedroom apartments.

Robinson-Regis said it would primarily be rental units, while the Caura housing project units would be mortgaged.

"We are returning the HDC and its subsidiaries to its mooring, which ensures houses are built in such a way that those who are on the HDC list of applicants can afford homes."

Robinson-Regis said the new development would have a "profound impact" on the lives of countless families.

"It will offer not just shelter, but a sanctuary. Not just brick and mortar, but a foundation on which to build dreams."

Quoting US poet Maya Angelou who said, "The ache for home lives in all of us, a safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned," Robinson-Regis said longing and yearning for a place to call one's own was a universal sentiment that transcended borders and bound people together as one human family.

"At the centre of HDC policy, is to ensure that housing development is a commitment to community building."

She called it an ethos that transcended construction and embraced the spirit of togetherness.

Referring to the Prime Minister, she added that a Dr Rowley-led government understands the enduring importance of a home.

"The PM, who was once a minister of housing, is focused on ensuring the government builds a place where people anchor their lives and generational wealth, a place where they will develop roots and lay a foundation."

Robinson-Regis said providing homes and the concept of ownership for people remained a priority for the government.

"The government understands the fear of disfranchisement, but it also understands that intergenerational wealth is possible."

She ended by saying that people who received a house must know they were not just recipients of a house, but custodians of a legacy.