There have been criticisms of contractors building the houses in various schemes and in response, a more robust monitoring system has been developed.
This is according to the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who spoke at a recent press conference.
“Yes, we have seen criticisms and rightfully so, in terms of quality of work done and this is something we have strengthened in terms of the monitoring team for the housing units but it does not take away the impact from the construction of those houses,” Croal stated.
He also said, “Every segment of our population has an opportunity for equal access for home ownership.”
Over the past few years, some $12.5 billion has been invested in the coastal regions, resulting in the completion of 1,865 homes across various income brackets, including low-income, moderate-income, middle-income, and young professionals.
A total of 867 low-income homes were completed and keys handed over last year, while 398 moderate-income homes were also completed.
For middle income, 138 homes were completed while 330 young professionals were done. There were also 82 core homes built.
“In 2024, we have invested in the completion of houses $4.3 billion,” Minister Croal said.
Under the hinterland housing programme 20 houses were completed in Region One and 70 houses were completed in Region Nine.
Currently, 1, 724 houses are under construction.
“Those are at various stages and by the middle of this year, all of those are expected to be completed,” Croal said as works continue to complete the rest of the housing programme.
But the allocation of lots and handing over of the houses does not stop there. Minister Croal explained that in 2024, 7, 118 certificate of titles were processed.
“Yes you say persons allocated, yes you see persons are able to access their areas, their land but there is another aspect involved where persons have to sign for their agreements of sale as well as for the processing of their title, that is an activity very often takes place behind the scene, so when the allocation is done, that is not the end of it, there is another set of work that is involved,” Croal stated.
He added: “To date, therefore we have processed over 14,710 titles and that does not include as I speak, there is another close to 2, 500 certificate to process for titles that is at the land registrar awaiting to be signed off and going through its check and balance.”
While the government continues to push for homeownership for every citizen, not everyone can afford to do their own construction. And so, the government implemented the steel and cement housing subsidy programme to assist citizens with the construction of their homes.
To date, the programme has seen an investment of over $370 million, with 1,478 vouchers issued to beneficiaries
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