The Housing and Village Improvement Programme has so far improved the housing conditions and community facilities of residents across the country.
Minister of Housing Adrian Leonce says he is most proud of this initiative, as it has presented hope for disadvantaged families.
“Now this particular programme is a programme where we go into communities, mostly squatting communities, you know, where they have dilapidated structures or structures that, if we have any adverse weather conditions, they will be at most risk. So we go in and we see that structures that need to be completely rebuilt. You know, sometimes structures build out a board or galvanize, et cetera, with latrines, et cetera. We will go and we will rebuild the entire structure for the homeowner.”
He said the service was provided for all 41 constituencies in T&T – a total of 1,000 houses. On the drawing board are 500 more houses to be done this year.
“It’s a programme that hires small contractors within these areas. So it’s kind of like an economic cycle for within the space, you know, to keep that economic growth, you know, as a social intervention. So you have persons who may not have had proper lighting, utilities, et cetera. Now children have a proper space to study. You know, it’s a whole transformation of their life and their lifestyles and their possibilities.”
Minister Leonce says the government, through this project, is allowing every citizen to get a piece of the national pie.