Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 21, 2016 (SKNIS): In the works for 2017, the National Housing Corporation (NHC) is planning to construct 300 homes, a project which will start in mid-January.
Minister of Housing and Human Settlement, Honourable Eugene Hamilton, revealed this during an awards ceremony and lunch for the dedicated and hardworking staff of NHC.
“We are going to be building in locations across St. Kitts,” said Minister Hamilton. “We think in several locations in every community you will find that we will not be building necessarily houses in one area because there are over 6000 lots of land allocated across the country and persons are interested in construction on their land which may not be necessarily in a housing area.”
The minister said that NHC will be building in areas where there may be only one lot of land and that person cannot get a loan from the bank, but they can satisfy the requirements for NHC.
Minister Hamilton said that the initial plan was to construct 300 homes in 2 years but that he was encouraged by his Cabinet colleagues to do so in one year.
“I am looking forward for persons who are dedicated and faithful, faithful to the organization and faithful to their duties,” said the minister, addressing the staff at the event. “I am saying faithful because I want to feel confident that you are faithful.”
He said that he is confident that they would work diligently in 2017 to deliver what is expected.
Chairman of the NHC Board, Valentine Lyndsay, said that communities that were punctuated with dilapidated houses will be renewed and former cane fields and mountain sides will lose some of their greenery to accommodate homes for persons.
He added that the new homes will have larger bedrooms and larger bathrooms at a lower construction cost.
“We will seek changes such as roof material, change from asphalt shingles to galvalume or U panels,” said the chairman. “This will aid to support our proposed conservation policies.”
There will also be an introduction of solar panels as NHC push towards renewable energy policy.
“These and more are what we will be offering in our future homes in the days to come,” said Mr. Lyndsay.
NHC was established 20 years ago on September 1, 1996, with the passage of the National Assembly Act no.9 of 1996.
The NHC Act established the NHC for the purpose of adding and improving the existing supply of residential housing and to encourage and promote greater efficiency in the housing sector.
The Board of Directors is vested by legislation with the power to manage the affairs of NHC and is responsible for the policy and the general administration of the corporation.