More lower income earners to be eligible for new dwellings

Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Dr William Duguid is giving the assurance that Government will continue to provide access to sustainable and resilient housing solutions for residents while making The City a more attractive place to live.

He made this declaration on Tuesday as he promised that Government would be pressing ahead with plans to put derelict and abandoned buildings in the urban areas back into productive use through joint partnerships with landowners.

At the same time, Duguid also announced that Government’s Home Ownership Providing Energy Inc. (HOPE) project will soon be extended to individuals earning below $2,000 per month.

Duguid was addressing the Ministerial Roundtable for the third Urban Economy Forum under the theme Housing and Urban Recovery.

He told the participants that the Mia Mottley administration “understands and appreciates” the special role that cities play in galvanizing economic, political and social development, and it was with this in mind that several projects and initiatives have been developed.

Pointing to several initiatives being implemented to rejuvenate the capital, Duguid said the former Treasury building would be adapted for residential use and “other iconic buildings” would serve as educational campuses.

“It is all part of the plan to make our city alive and thriving once more because we truly believe that without a mix of vibrant economic activity and residential activity, cities will die,” he said.

“In that regard, we are moving ahead with our plans to press derelict and unused buildings in Bridgetown and the wider urban corridor back into productive use through joint partnerships with landowners. And we have already commenced the construction of duplex and quadruplex housing units in and around Bridgetown as part of a goal of maximizing the use of scarce available land spaces.

“In addition, recognizing that people must be at the heart of social and economic development, my ministry currently has plans to upgrade an inner city neighbourhood to make the living conditions of the residents more inhabitable,” he said.

In relation to the HOPE project, which currently provides two and three-bedroom housing solutions for first-time homeowners earning a net income of between BDS$2,000 and BDS$4,000, Duguid said that programme would soon be extended.

Under the programme, the land is provided to the prospective homeowner who then pays a mortgage of between $795 and $1,000. They will pay for the construction of the house. The homeowner is then able to recover costs through income streams generated by photovoltaic (PV) systems to be installed on the roofs.

“Very shortly, Barbados plans to expand this PV model to cater to approximately 2,500 first-time homeowners who earn below US$1,000 per month,” he said.

Duguid, who recently came under heavy criticism for turning to China to provide some 150 prefabricated emergency houses, gave the assurance that a number of local artisans would benefit from helping to build some of the remaining houses.

He indicated that there were more than 2,000 reports of damaged houses following the two severe weather systems that affected Barbados earlier this year, and it was determined that more than 500 houses had to be completely rebuilt.

“This repair effort, although led by the Government, is a truly national collaboration, involving private sector firms, donors and government housing agencies. In many instances, affected persons who could assist themselves were supplied with materials,” he said.

“More than 300 small and medium-sized contractors will be employed as well as hundreds of artisans. These combined efforts will generate much-needed income in a climate where there is high unemployment and so we expect that the economy as a whole will benefit,” said Duguid. (MM)