The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development conducts its first Community Outreach Caravan for 2021 in Blanchisseuse and La Fillette

As part of its Public Awareness and Education (PAE) Programme, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Outreach Caravan rolled in to the northeastern communities of Blanchisseuse and La Fillette on Saturday 06 February, 2021 where scores of residents from the area and neighbouring villages were warmly welcomed by the Honourable Minister and Member of Parliament for the area, Pennelope Beckles.

The day’s activities kicked off at 10:00 am at the Blanchisseuse Community Centre and ended at 3:00pm at the Blanchisseuse Secondary School. The Ministry hosted the event in conjunction with one of the agencies under its remit, the Land Settlement Agency, while ensuring that all public health safety protocols were adhered to in light of Covid19 concerns.

The main objective of the Ministry’s Public Education Programme is to inform and educate citizens, of the many housing related and other relevant programmes offered through the Ministry, other Ministries and state agencies, in which the sole intent is to improve the living conditions and circumstances of low to lower middle-income families across the country.

The thrust of the Ministry’s Outreach Programme, therefore, is to reach those citizens living in rural areas who may not physically have access to the state’s services or have reliable broadband connectivity to access the Ministry’s website or social media platforms where information on these programmes can be found.

The Government is cognizant of the challenges facing the Ministry in being able to adequately provide and meet the increasing demand for state subsidized housing, particularly during these difficult economic times, which has only been further exacerbated by the Covid 19 global pandemic.

Therefore, one of the key take-aways from the Outreach Programme is the invaluable information shared with the residents on how they can become sufficiently empowered to manage seamless transactions whether they choose to rent, lease, purchase or build their own homes. The Ministry believes this empowerment will also mitigate against occurrences of fraud and other corrupt practices.

Persons who attended the event had the opportunity to interact with other public sector stakeholders such as the Housing Development Corporation, the Land Settlement Agency, Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company Ltd., the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, National Commission for Self Help, the Ministry of Labour, the Housing Programme Facilitation and Implementation Unit and the Programme Monitoring Coordinating and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry.

Minister Beckles wishes to publicly thank all those who attended the Ministry’s first Outreach Caravan for 2021 and for having made it such a huge success!