Prime Minister Andrew Holness has called on more stakeholders in the private sector to partner with his government on the housing program after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a private sector group to construct houses for vulnerable Jamaicans.
“Once the private sector realizes that the project is integrous, meaning that the reputational risk of association is very limited or non-existent, then it’s easy for the private sector to say, ‘I would associate my brand with this project.’ It is transparent, it is well-run, and you can only get a positive gain from it,” Holness told the signing ceremony.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and Arc Properties Limited signed the MoU regarding the contribution of units to the New Social Housing Program (NSHP).
The signing follows an appeal to the private sector to partner with the government in building more houses, and Prime Minister Holness said he was pleased to see Arc Properties Limited contributing to the program.
“I am almost overcome with emotion to see the call being answered. You are the pioneer in this area, and I am very pleased; and it does speak well for Jamaica. The truth is our private sector has been very active in treating social issues, and I am sure there are others who will hear the call and respond,” he added.
Holness noted that the NSHP targets beneficiaries or households earning minimum wage or less or which earn no income.
“This is what you would consider being an income contingent subsidy. Governments give subsidies for all kinds of reasons. But the best way to give a subsidy is to make it income contingent, meaning if you are not earning any income, then you genuinely should get the subsidy.
“Because if you think about what a subsidy is, it is a transfer, a grant from the Government to enable you to afford consumption. People with income have consumption ability, but people without income generally don’t.
“So, for government to be efficient in subsidies, you usually want to tie your subsidy to the income of the beneficiary. That is what the Government is generally doing with all its subsidies across the board; we are making them specific and targeted to beneficiaries who we have identified, and we are making sure that people who have more income don’t get more subsidy,” Holness added.
He said 89 units have already been built under the program and that initially, costs of the units will start at eight million dollars (One Jamaica dollar=US$0/008 cents), “but now the prices are coming down nicely.”
Arc Properties Limited’s managing director, Ashley-Ann Horne, said her company would do what it can to increase the construction of houses for the most vulnerable in society under the NSHP at no cost to the government.
“We are patriotically proud to be contributing to the upliftment of the Jamaican people in this manner, and we will continue to be a good Jamaican company and a sterling partner for all social, economic, and national upliftment programs,” she said.
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