Bajans are paying their home mortgages on time, and Minister of Housing, Lands and Urban and Rural Development Michael Lashley is full of praise for them.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Lashley said: “One thing I can say about Barbadians, they save their money to pay for their homes.
“While we still have issues in terms of rental units, those people who have bought homes are paying their mortgages on time.”
The minister said that as for rental units, “we understand some people have difficulty paying rent, so we are seeking ways and means to address the issue in a way which is not harsh or insensitive”.
Lashley also said contracts would soon be drawn up for homes to be built in Lancaster, St James, and Parish Land, St Philip. Small contractors are to take on these projects.
“Contracts will be finalized next week for 15 small contractors to build starter homes at Lancaster 1 and 2 and in Parish Land in St Philip. This is part of a $40 million FirstCaribbean loan.”
In addition, he said 300 people had signed up for his ministry’s Incremental Home Construction Programme which was relaunched yesterday at Emerald City Supermarket, St Philip, and that 40 people were selected by Cabinet to benefit from the programme.
This programme is part of the ministry’s Housing And Neighbour Upgrading Project, a joint effort between Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
At Emerald City, project manager Sandra Drakes said the relaunched programme was already generating greater interest than the original, as people did not respond well to the criteria then, forcing the Government to return to the negotiating table with the IDB.
The Government will be hosting further information fairs next Saturday at the General Post Office in The City and May 21 at SuperCentre in Warrens, St Michael.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing Patrick Todd explained that the Housing And Neighbour Upgrading Project was an agreement between Government, which provided $10 million and the IDB, which provided a $30 million loan, to accommodate 600 subsidy grants of up to $10 000 maximum to Barbadian homeowners for minor repairs such as tiling, doors and windows.
He said the agreement stipulated Government would provide the maximum amount of $10 000 as a percentage of the total cost of repairs.
Under the original agreement, the total cost of repairs would have to have been around $14 285 which meant the homeowner would have had to provide about $4 285.
This apparently proved too expensive for many people, Todd said.
