Jamaica: Govt hands over 300 affordable homes across country

Jamaica Government handed over 300 affordable homes across the country. Prime Minister Andrew Holness expressed his happiness and called it “the best feeling in the world”.  

“To be able to change lives and give new life and direction to families is a source of great joy for me,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness. 

The massive handover took place as part of the New Social Housing Programme, that aims to improve living standards of people.  Prime Minister Holness said that the government also plans to expand the programme. 

Prime Minister also reiterated his commitment to deliver more homes as he aims to break the cycle of generational poverty and put more Jamaicans on the path to a better life.  

New Social Housing Programme Enters New Chapter 

Earlier this week, the New Social Housing Programme entered a new chapter with the handing over of keys to residents in phase one of Victoria Palms Housing Development on Friday, December 13, 2024.  

The 12-unit, two storey infrastructure, which was constructed at a cost of around $72 million was the first one to be delivered under modality two of the initiative. This programme aims to address the relocation of vulnerable communities in Jamaica. 

In his keynote address during the ceremony, PM Holness had said that the relocation project demonstrates the Government’s commitment to revitalise urban spaces and will be accelerated. 

He outlined that the government has a good plan which is a strategy to deal with this issue of informal settlement, urban areas impacted by crime and urban deterioration.  

According to Holness he will dedicate a substantial part of the budget to his sector, having now developed the administrative and technical part of it to ease the project’s acceleration. 

Beneficiaries breaks down in tears as they receive keys to new homes 

During the ceremony, the beneficiaries were also seen breaking down in tears with one of them named Odenikie Smith saying, “I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.” 

Having previously lived in a makeshift structure without piped water or proper electricity installations, the Spanish Town resident extended her heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister.  

Another beneficiary who was visually impaired, Leo Chin, moved into his new home earlier this month.  

Another man Byron Hibbert became overwhelmed with gratitude after he received the keys of his new home from PM Holness. This man lost his previous home to a fire, and he expressed his immense gratitude to the government for helping him with this new infrastructure.  

Premade housing solutions to be announced: PM Holness 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that his administration plans to announce premade housing solutions. 

“We're going to be looking at ready built solutions, pre-built solutions that we can just come and place on a foundation. There will be still strong, still robust, but the prefabricated housing solutions, the technology is now far advanced for us to be able to deploy a one bedroom or a two-bedroom solution quite easily. So they are constructed in a factory, they are put on a trailer and they're brought to the location,” he added.  

Holness added, “So they are constructed in a factory, they are put on a trailer, and they're brought to the location. And that is the direction in which we will probably have to go, because the time it takes for construction, in addition to the administrative time, the procurement time and the compliance time, those elongate the process.” 

The Prime Minister explained that this new direction will help to reduce the overall turnaround time for beneficiaries to receive houses.  

Notably, the NSHP was established in 2018 as part of the HOPE Programme. It aims to create sustainable housing solutions for families in Jamaica who are in dire need of a roof.