We are now seeing signs of movement towards stimulating the economy through the construction sector in particular. Minister of Housing, Marlene McDonald, has made her Ministry’s position clear at the Contractor of the Year Award ceremony held at the Hilton Trinidad.
The Minister assured that more HDC developments are on the way to better meet the housing demands by the public. The HDC will return to its original mandate of providing affordable houses to those in need, she said.
Minister McDonald has stated that the former administration increased the cost of construction. Her Ministry intends, therefore, to move to have the cost per unit reduced.
I look forward to returning the days of the construction boom particularly in the housing sector. Once managed effectively this level of construction activity will be an engine for boosting economic activity and the high levels of employment that accompany these activities.
The Minister also highlighted that the work will be spread among a wider pool of contractors. This is a step in the right direction because many small and medium contractors have been forced to get out of business due to a sluggish sector over the past couple years.
My major concern is ensuring that with this construction boom the housing units built are allocated to those who genuinely need them. The former administration raised the qualifying income bracket from where it was initially at $8000 to $30,000 per month. The programme now includes many people who could afford homes on the open market accessing HDC homes to the detriment of those who cannot afford open market homes.
This should be rectified before any further distribution to ensure deserving people don’t lose out on the opportunity.
The last check revealed over 80,000 HDC applications are still in the system so getting to work on trying to meet this demand is in the best interest of the people.
Martin Huggins,
Arima