Thirty Families of Samuel Cooper Road, Moruga get Keys to their New Homes

On February 18, 2019, thirty (30) families received keys to their new homes at a key distribution ceremony at Samuel Cooper Village, Moruga through the Housing and Village Improvement Programme. Under this new award-winning programme, thirty (30) homes were constructed to replace dilapidated structures that residents were residing in, while repairs were also undertaken on an additional ten (10) homes. Through this programme, the village of Samuel Cooper also experienced some drainage works aimed at improving the community’s infrastructure.

Delivering remarks at the Key Distribution Ceremony, Housing and Urban Development Minister Edmund Dillon said, “I want to thank our Prime Minister, who walked these areas in 2015 and having seen the conditions here in Samuel Cooper immediately passed his instructions. We’re seeing the fruits of that labour today, as his philosophy then was that no one will be left behind; and indeed, no one was left behind.”

Going further into the genesis of the Housing and Village Improvement Programme, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley explained, “I was embarrassed as a politician of long standing in this country. I would have taken part in probably twenty odd budgets and see children growing up in those circumstances, and I spoke to your MP and said to him, ‘if we get nothing done at the end of our term, the condition in which people live in this street, in this village will change’ and it is changing.”

The Housing and Village Improvement Programme is an innovative and cost-effective programme designed to improve the housing conditions and community facilities of residents in rural and peri-urban areas. The Housing and Village Improvement Programme utilises the Aided Self-Help approach with the objective of targeting residents of disadvantaged villages through the creation of an enabling environment in which the community residents can achieve sustainable development through the provision of housing and village improvement.

On December 6, 2018, the Housing and Village Improvement Programme (HVIP) won the President’s Award for Service Excellence and Innovation in the Public Sector.