The challenge to provide affordable housing has prompted the Government to invest some $8 million dollars toward the future development of an additional 100 low-cost houses in the Jubilee Gardens Subdivision off Fire Trail Road.
Minister of Housing, Shane Gibson, told The Guardian at a press conference Monday, that the grant of 15 acres of land would provide housing for persons who were not offered houses in the Malcolm Allotment and Pastell Gardens subdivisions.
Minister Gibson said that all infrastructurual work for the additional Jubilee Gardens homes would begin immediately, after which the construction of homes will follow. This, he said, will begin some three months from now in May. The homes will either comprise of three bedroom two baths, three-bedroom one bath or two bedroom, one-bathroom homes.
According to Minister Gibson, there are some 13,000 housing applications pending at the Ministry of Housing and it has been very “difficult” for the Ministry to find homes to accommodate perspective owners. Minister Gibson also noted that meetings were held with a number of developers who had expressed an interest in developing “pre-fabricated” homes, but the Ministry has been unable to select a developer to provide such homes at an “affordable” price. He said the Ministry perfers to build homes the “conventional” way.
“We are just about completed with the homes in Malcolm Allotment and hopefully, by the time that they complete them, Pastell Gardens will be ready and afterwards, we will be down here with the extension of Jubilee Gardens,” he said, adding that even though providing homes is very “challenging,” they are daily trying to obtain land to accommodate as many persons as possible. Minister Gibson did state however, that preferential rates will be given to single parents, families in need and individuals of the uniformed forces.
Managing Director of The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation, Mr. Jerome Godfrey, said that those who have been given preferential rates, would have their interest rates lowered, mortgage terms extended, in addition to a lower down payment. “Sometimes persons may qualify for the loan, but may not have all of the deposit that is available, so we have made ourselves available in responding to the needs of the public in this respect and in this subdivision, the same trend is expected to continue,” he said.
Chief Housing Officer, Lorraine Armbrister, said that even though the Ministry has been “challenged” over the years to provide affordable housing for all individuals, new technical initiatives implemented by the Ministry, has resulted in “tremendous” improvements.
“We now see those single mothers who could not afford to obtain homes, now getting homes and getting those preferable interest rates and lower deposits. Already, we are seeing a dent in the number of applications that we have to a substantial extent and we are very pleased with what we see,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Housing Minister said that his Ministry continues to enforce their policy of ensuring that “shoddy” workmanship is not carried out by its contractors. He noted that a lot of them are getting “upset” with the Ministry, because they have inspectors “on their case” on a daily basis to ensure that the homes that are being produced are of high quality.
“We have experienced a number of problems in the Millennium Gardens subdivision and I think we have minimized those problems in the Malcolm Allotment Subdivision,” he said.
Director of Housing, Mr. Gordon Major, expressed that he is very pleased with the progress that is being made at the Ministry of Housing, regarding quality workmanship. He said that the excellent work has been a combination of having more “vigilant” inspections, as well as a series of meetings with contractors prior to their beginning work on homes.
“It’s been a very rewarding experience and a number of problems that we saw happen in Millennium Gardens, have been eliminated with the contractors that we now have in Malcolm Allotment and that is the trend that we intend to continue in this (Jubilee Gardens) and our other subdivisions that we will be progressing in New Providence and certainly in the Family Islands,” he said.
Member of Parliament for Baillou Hills, Leslie Miller, said he is quite happy that the government will be extending Jubilee Gardens by an additional 100 homes. He said affordable housing in The Bahamas is a “scarcity” and he is gratified that the government has seen it fit to extend Jubilee Gardens on behalf of the people of The Bahamas.
“I am very happy for the residents here in Jubilee Gardens and we welcome them before hand. I also want to thank the Minister on behalf of all the residents of Baillou Hills,” he said.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
