Minister Beckles hands over housing units under the Housing and Village Improvement Programme

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the Honourable Penelope Beckles, today (Wednesday), presented keys to nineteen (19) deserving recipients under the Ministry’s Housing and Village Improvement Programme (HVIP). At a distribution ceremony held at the Mt. Hope/Mt. Lambert Community Centre, recipients from various areas of northern Trinidad proudly collected keys to their new homes in the communities of St. Joseph, Matura, Valencia, Cumuto, Talparo, Sangre Grande and other areas.

The Housing Village Improvement Programme targets villages with neglected infrastructure and poor-quality housing, many of which are located in rural and periurban areas. The programme is community oriented and utilises a Village Based— Aided Self-Help Approach which goes further than improving the physical, human and social capital assets of the communities. The programme also offers employment opportunities to small contractors within the communities and surrounding areas to keep construction cost down to $120,000 per starter unit.

The Programme is now in its fourth Phase and to date has positively impacted the lives of 199 families across 13 communities. It has also and created employment opportunities for some 1,140 individuals.

The Minister told recipients, “I am pleased that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, through the Land Settlement Agency, implemented this programme to provide affordable and quality housing.”

Minister Beckles further stated that, “I am convinced that access to affordable and adequate housing is the right of every citizen! it is in fact a challenge to provide and facilitate affordable housing to meet growing demands. Yet, we remain steadfast to do so, even when faced with an overwhelming database of applications for state subsidized housing.”

Development, the Honourable Adrian Leonce, the Honourable Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister ofHealth, Member ofParliament for Toco / Sangre Grande, Roger Monroe, Member of Parliament for La Horquetta / Talparo Honourable Mr. Foster Cummings, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ms. Simone Thorne-Mora, and other LSA officials.
Also, in attendance were Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Urban