By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
SEVERAL PERSONS hoping to be among the first set of applicants for houses in Phase Two of the Cornwall Courts housing development in St. James had their hopes dashed, after the National Housing Trust (NHT) turned them away.
In recent weeks, a number of prospective home owners have reportedly visited the NHT's Montego Bay office with completed forms which they claimed were given to them by persons on the streets. However, these persons had to leave the office disappointed, after the NHT made it clear that it is not yet accepting applications for that development.
Public Education Officer at the NHT, Hortense Rose, told The Gleaner that it was not clear where persons got the forms, and insisted that the NHT had not authorised anyone to distribute application forms.
"We just want to alert people that we have not authorised anyone to hand out any forms. We don't know who is giving out these forms and when the people take them in, they are not being clear as to where they got them," she told The Gleaner.
Ms. Rose further advised that the selection process for the allotment of housing solutions in the Cornwall Courts Phase Two Scheme will follow the prescribed route of advertising in the major newspapers when the selection process is opened. She added that only then will the NHT be accepting application forms.
"We want to make it clear that the NHT schemes are distributed through a process of advertising in the three major Sunday papers, when we invite applicants to visit our offices for the forms, and bring them in when they are completed. That is a well established process and we thought people understood that," she reiterated.
In a written response to queries from The Gleaner, the NHT said it expects the first batch of houses in Phase Two of the Cornwall Courts development to be ready mid-August this year. The Trust further advised that it will be advertising these housing solutions at the end of May.
The NHT also placed a notice in The Gleaner of February 9, where it asked contributors not to accept application forms from unauthorised persons.
"NHT contributors will be notified of the dates for submitting applications for housing solutions in the Cornwall Court Scheme by way of advertisements in the press," the notice said.
Officials from the NHT had told attendants at a public meeting in Montego Bay on November 13 last year that it would be accepting applications in December 2002 for Phase Two of the Cornwall Courts housing development.
