Gov’t making more housing units safer

Government’s $19 million electrical upgrade programme for National Housing Corporation (NHC) units is in full swing with scores of units already being completed at a cost of $6.5 million.

Speaking at Deacons, St Michael, during the second electrical upgrade handover, Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Dr William Duguid said the first completed electrical upgrade to government units was at Haynesville, St James.

He said the upgrades are needed especially since the existing systems have been in use for many years, resulting in the units being fire hazards. This, he added, is why the authorities are moving swiftly to have as many of the upgrades completed in a timely manner.

“So far, we have completed Haynesville, we have now completed Deacons, we have completed St Stephen’s, and we have in progress Fernihurst which is 154 units and we have completed 80 per cent of those. At Rosemont, St Michael we have 69 units and we have completed 75 per cent of those.”

Minister Duguid who commended the efforts of the NHC for spearheading the electrical upgrade project, indicated that when he took over the leadership of the Ministry of Housing there were about 32 contractors employing about 400 people to get the work done.

However, he announced that there are now 40 contractors on the electrical upgrade project, 500 people working.

“In addition, we have just started Eden Lodge with 365 units, and Wotton 120 units and once we get those other contractors on, we will then go to Parkinson Field, Regent Hill and Factory Avenue,” he explained.

“So, we are working on multiple locations simultaneously to get as much of this work done as quickly as possible because every day counts. And as you would appreciate, some of this electrical wiring is even older than me, 50 years and above. This is absolutely critical and very important work that we are doing.”

The minister appealed to the Barbados Light and Power (BL&P) to move with haste to switch over units to the new system once the electrical upgrade works have been completed and necessary documentation processed.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for St Michael North-West and Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly Neil Rowe who described the project as long overdue told the media that he has been receiving complaints from tenants of the units about the quality of their electrical system.

Rowe said he sympathized with the tenants considering that technology has been evolving and, in most cases, is not compatible with the outdated electrical systems.

Rowe said: “I also want to thank the minister for hiring some of the small contractors from this constituency in the electrical upgrade. It also gives the contractors from this constituency the opportunity to hire a few of the young men that sit on the blocks across this constituency. I am very grateful to the Minister and to the Government”. (AH)