Monique Hepburn and
Nagra Plunkett, Staff ReportersWESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE INVESTING their life savings in the Operation PRIDE housing development in Retire-ment, St. James, prospective homeowners are refusing to settle there, saying the community has been taken over by armed criminals.
"The area has become a haven for criminality. Of the 1,000 lots, there are 10 completed houses and people are not moving in because criminals wantonly fire high-powered weapons at night," Michael Troupe, Councillor for the Granville Division, told The Gleaneryesterday.
GOING DOWN THE DRAIN
"The government has spent approximately $110 million to develop the community and it is going down the drain ... squatters are building shacks on the lots."
The beneficiaries, who are now looking toward acquiring housing solutions in more developed sites, are middle-income earners, including police officers, teachers, nurses and bank clerks.
According to Councillor Troupe, the National Housing Development Corporation ((NHDC), which regulates the 10-year-old Operation PRIDE programme, has been notified of the situation.
The community of Retirement falls under social advocacy group COMAND (Community Organisa-tion for Management and Sustain-able Development), which represents PRIDE sites in Trelawny, St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland.
COMAND recently met with NHDC managing director Milverton Reynolds and voiced concerns about the slow pace of development and the lack of regulation in their communities.
"We feel that the PRIDE process is on the back burner. It cannot depend on beneficiaries' savings to carry on the programme. You find that some of the sites are not yet at the stage where they can access mortgages so there needs to be a third stream of funding," stated COMAND Chairman, O. Dave Allen.
CONCERNS NOTED
"The government should reposition PRIDE as a key element of the Poverty Eradication Programme, thus attracting funding from overseas through both lending and donor agencies."
In response, Mr. Reynolds advised that he has taken note of the concerns and that the problems will be dealt with over time.
"With NHDC having 113 schemes and 78 currently active, it is physically impossible to have all of them running effectively. No other organisation has such a great responsibility," said the NHDC boss.
"NHDC is relying on the (participants on ) sites to pay their monies before the contractors can be paid, the process is being hindered and as a result it will take some time for the development to be effective."
