The Editor, Sir:

Why would anyone should be befuddled by the National Housing Trust (NHT) inefficiency -producing a mere 150,000 houses after 30 years - befuddles me. The NHT was created by Michael Manley to help him achieve his socialist ideals; full government control of the economy and the lives of every Jamaican.

A relic of the past, the NHT, as it is now modelled, has no place in Jamaica's relative market economy. It is a 'yesterday' company that could not function without picking the pockets of working men/women. It is a tool of successive governments to sweeten the political pots and befuddle the Jamaican people during election periods.

While I am not recommending that we slay the dinosaur, I do believe that the time is right to transform the NHT business model and allow it to exploit where the housing financing market is lacking, the secondary market. Instead of providing direct mortgage help to contributors, the NHT should be in the business of replenishing the low and middle income housing financial market; building societies and other likely mortgage upstarts should do the direct lending.

At the same time, the central Government should move towards a deliberate path that helps to convert NHT by:

1. Making it a public company.

2. Listing it on the Jamaica Stock Exchange

3. Eliminating the requirement that it refunds contributors.

4. Giving its contributors a tax deduction for annual contribution.

5. Changing its top-heavy management structure

I am, etc.,

MICHAEL BROWN

miguelbro@yahoo.com

Washington, DC

Via Go-Jamaica