Free houses for St Elizabeth families

Five families in St Elizabeth on Friday received the keys to houses that were provided under the Government's transformative New Social Housing Programme.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness presented the keys to the beneficiaries who reside in Burnt Savannah, Barton Wharf in Lacovia, Paradise in Carisbrook, and Thornton and Oxford Settlement in Balaclava. The houses are three (3) three-bedroom and two (2) two-bedroom units.

One of the recipients is Joy Bennett, a 55-year-old single mother of three, who had endured years of uncertainty and overcrowded living conditions.

Bennett was overcome with emotions as she held the keys in her hands which, for her, represents a symbol of hope and stability for her family's future.

It was a similar feeling for fire victim Karl Blake, who accepted the keys with tears streaming down his face. The father of four was displaced by a recent fire which razed his home in Carisbrook.

Holness, in his address during the presentation ceremony in Burnt Savannah, said the houses mark a turning point in the lives of the beneficiaries, by providing them with a fresh start and a sanctuary to call their own.

"We have never... before... had a project of this nature, which is designed to systematically address the issue of providing housing fully subsidised, or even partially subsidised, for persons who are living in substandard housing conditions," Holness said.

Holness said the programme symbolised the Government's commitment, as well as the collective conscience of the Jamaican people, to ensure that "no citizen should endure such substandard housing conditions".

He pointed out that approximately 6,000 households are in urgent need of full subsidy support due to their dire living conditions, and argued that by providing 6,000 housing solutions over time for the most vulnerable, an average of 24,000 individuals would be elevated out of absolute poverty.