Ground symbolically broken in Stapleton as St Kitts and Nevis’s housing programme expands

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in Stapleton in St Peter’s, St Kitts and Nevis, on December 13, to mark the expansion of the government’s housing programme.

The site will feature 26 houses with single, two and three-bedroom options. They are part of the climate-smart home initiative led by East Coast Housing Development Limited (ECHD). The National Housing Corporation (NHC) and the Ministry of Sustainable Development are also key partners in the project with the latter providing lands in various communities across the island-nation for building shelters.  

Dirck Singh, director of ECHD, thanked the Terrance Drew government for the vision to provide affordable houses and its own opportunity to be a part of it. 

Speaking at the event, he said they were ready, much to the audience’s liking. He also informed that the contractors working on the housing projects belong to the local constituencies which makes it easier to take the community-focused housing programme forward. 

Among the constituencies are Ottleys, where a foundation is being laid for 20 houses. Land has also been cleared in Farm Meadows, Sandy Point, for building 30 houses. The project will also include communities in and around Newton Ground in the coming days. 

Highlighting a high demand for housing and the government’s commitment to fulfil the people’s aspirations, Ambassador Leon Natta-Nelson, special advisor in the Ministry of Housing et al, said they would be all around St Kitts to provide homes to the people. 

St Kitts and Nevis Deputy PM speaks

St Kitts and Nevis’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr Geoffrey Hanley, who is also responsible for the Ministry of Housing and Settlement, said the government delivered more than 110 houses since he came to office in August 2022, which is more than the figures recorded by the previous governments in the corresponding timeframe. 

Hanley said among the beneficiaries of the project are those who had owned land for many decades, some as back as the late 1990s, but could not build homes on them. Terming it a housing revolution under the government, the deputy PM said many people had applied through NHC and were given the go-ahead by financial authorities. 

“We are not going to stop building homes,” he said, reiterating his government’s major mission to increase the number of houses and give families safe communities to dwell. He said the projects are not about building homes but an investment for future generations as well. 

Prime Minister Drew, who had said in the wake of the deadly Hurricane Beryl which ripped across the Caribbean in June and July, that it is a stark reminder of the existential threat that climate change poses, said several people will benefit from economic opportunities that will be created by the housing and other projects. 

Dr Drew, also known as “Caring Dr Drew” for his philanthropic nature, has made affordable housing one of the central missions of his administration, which believes that apart from helping vulnerable communities who lose their shelter in natural disasters, the houses also empower them by boosting the local economy in terms of jobs and infrastructure.