NHT Embarks on First Major Scheme in Manchester; Demonstration of Planned Development-PM

By: OPM Communications

March 21, 2013

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on March 20 presented 25 of the 245 titles to serviced lot beneficiaries in Phase 1 of the National Housing Trust’s Perth Housing Development in Manchester. The Perth Housing Development, the first major NHT project for the parish of Manchester, will be undertaken in three phases. It will comprise 258 serviced lots and 1400 housing units. Phase 1 was developed at a cost of $677.46 million. The development also has areas reserved for parks, green spaces and commercial activity. The Prime Minister said it is important to include such facilities to complement the scheme in order to ensure that life will be much easier for the occupants.

Addressing the beneficiaries following a tour of the site, the Prime Minister said the government was committed “to delivering on one of the fundamental platforms of providing affordable housing for our people and we are affirming that the National Housing Trust is fulfilling its mandate of providing affordable housing solutions.”

The Prime Minister called on the beneficiaries to “stand with us, work with us and fashion a future of success and personal achievement. We don’t want to just build houses; we want to ensure that wherever communities are created, people will live together in peace and love,” Mrs Simpson Miller said. With this appeal, the Prime Minister encouraged the beneficiaries to create a model community of love and peace that others will emulate, noting that strong communities create strong parishes and will in turn create a strong Jamaica.

The Prime Minister also called on the Trust to make contact with the Disabilities Association so they too can benefit more from the NHT’s housing stock. Already the Trust has put in place various concessions to certain categories of applicants including persons with disabilities.