By ANIKA GUMBS-SANDIFORD

Guardian South Bureau    

PRIME MINISTER Patrick manning has vowed that the Government will continue building houses for the next ten years as he predicted the eradication of squatting problem plaguing T&T.

Manning, who is the political leader of the ruling party People’s National Movement, made the announcement as he addressed supporters at St. Madeleine Recreation Ground, after walkabout in the Naprima constituency on Tuesday.

Although residents expressed concerns over water shortages and the increase in food prices, they hugged and kissed the Prime Minister as he toured the area.       

Overwhelmed by the warm welcome he received in what is an acknowledged stronghold of the opposition United National Congress, Manning vowed that the government was not going to stop building houses until every person was housed properly.

“The Government will continue the housing programme until every single person is properly housed in T&T,” he said.

“Construction will go on for more than ten years…long after I part this political existence, but it will continue even if I go because of the good governance.”

Lashing out at detractors who accused the government of house padding, Manning said poor housing was a national problem.

“First, we were accused of building houses to win elections…Now we are building houses in areas that have never been controlled by People’s National Movement,” he said.

“Houses are being built all over T&T because the Housing problem is national.

“This problem is not restricted to certain parts of the country, but to certain categories of people.

“We are determined to eradicate squatting.”

Revealing that 26,000 houses have been constructed so far, Manning said:

Construction was slow when we began, but we have attained the average of 10,000 per year…Eight thousand houses are being built in the public sector and 2,000 in the private sector.

“We are going to build more than 100,000 houses (in the next ten years).”

Nothing that the allocation policy was based on an individual salary and not on race, Manning said the houses were designed for certain categories of people.

“It has nothing to do with race, it is all about one’s salary,” he said.

“The houses are designed for certain categories of persons…Once the standard requirements are met, persons have access to owning a home.”

Manning also said that over the next few months, the mortgage interest rate of two per cent as promised in the 2006-2007 budget would go into effect.

He said this low, subsidized interest rate would be retroactive.