Payback time for NHC tenants under BERT

All tenants of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) who have paid in full or paid deposits towards their units should have their money returned by Christmas, Minister of Housing Dr William Duguid announced in Parliament on Tuesday.

He said the more than $5 million in payments will be refunded to 576 tenants from 21 of Government’s 49 housing estates.

In keeping with the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, tenants who paid $5,000 or less will receive cash refunds. Those who paid more than $5,000 will receive bonds that can be cashed at any time at a discounted price.

Duguid said the decision was taken to refund the money to correct what he described as “unfair” and an anomaly, with some tenants getting their units free of charge under the previous Democratic Labour Party administration, while the others paid towards theirs.

At the same time, he gave an assurance that the NHC is on track with the rehabilitation of housing estates.

He told the House: “In the last year, this Government has spent $2.23 million to upgrade the electrical network in 313 units in the building estates at Haynesville, Thorpes and Bagatelle. This was a pilot project, and the NHC has brought in 11 additional contractors to carry out similar work on its estates, and we started in Fernihurst and Rosemont earlier this month.”

On the electrical work, the minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Christ Church West, said: “The board has indicated that 500 units will be upgraded annually over the next five years, but because of the timeline we have given ourselves for the transfer of these units,  I have challenged the NHC to double this output.”

He stated that the NHC had also made progress on repairing sewage systems at some of the housing units.

Duguid said: “In the third quarter of 2019, the NHC was asked to carry out sewage refurbishment at an additional cost of $2 million. They identified 135 sewage systems, wells and septic tanks at ten different estates for urgent rehabilitation. As of October 31 this year, 73 of these systems have been done at a cost of $1,706,475. We still have challenges with this work because it is messy and painstaking, and much of it has been neglected for years.”

He added that the NHC had established a WhatsApp number, 266-1854, that tenants can use to notify them of any urgent issues concerning their units, and he noted there has been a good response to that initiative thus far.
(DH)