Lashley pleased with work at Tweedside Road

Low-income earners will soon have another housing solution from which to choose.According to Minister of Housing and Lands Michael Lashley, potential homeowners need not fear about the safety or quality of these new houses.He made this declaration on Tuesday after touring the National Housing Corporation’s (NHC) Stuart’s Lodge, Tweedside Road, St Michael project.Lashley and other NHC officials entered several terrace units to get a first-hand look at the progress of construction as recent heavy rains had slowed down work.“I would invite anyone to look for any cracks here,” Lashley said, in an apparent reference to comments last week by Opposition Leader Mia Mottley and a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) team highlighting cracks in unfinished NHC housing units at Greens, St George.“The workmanship is of a very high standard,” Lashley said. “I’m very satisfied with the level of work done by the staff of the National Housing Corporation.”Lashley also noted that the tendering process inviting several small contractors to be involved in the HELP project was almost complete, and that the response had been extremely high.He also invited more such firms to put in finances at the front-end so as to facilitate the completion of future projects. “When that is done, it makes the National Housing Corporation much more flexible in fulfilling its mandate,” the minister said. In response to a question from the media, Lashley said the NHC had no intention of overcrowding urban areas, but it had to deal with the high number of people without a home, as well as those not satisfied with existing rental arrangements.(BA)