Government Information Service

by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service

On Friday, January 9th, 2009, the Ministry of Housing hosted a press conference to update members of the media and the general population of Dominica on the status of Government’s Housing Revolution Programme.

Chief Technical Officer in the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Telecommunications, Mr. Lucien Blackmore, said that what is currently happening can be described as a two (2) tier situation where there are various isolated housing developments and that of the other component of the Housing Revolution.

In his presentation, Mr. Blackmore highlighted the various stages of progress of the aforementioned isolated programmes.

“What is going on right now, as we speak, at Bellevue Chopin, we are almost about ninety-five percent (95%) complete at this point in terms of the housing component and infrastructure for eleven (11) houses. Down at Hillsborough Gardens in St. Joseph, we have another thirty (30) houses, twenty (20) of which are bungalow-type structures and another ten (10) which are elevated buildings. They are about eighty-five percent (85%) completed at this point. We also have in the Carib Territory forty-one houses which is about ninety percent (90%) complete at this point. In the town of Portsmouth, we are undertaking, right now, fifteen (15) houses out of a total of forty (40) houses that we have earmarked to be constructed there.

In a nutshell, that is about one hundred and twenty-two (122) houses that Government is currently seeking to put in place for the less fortunate brothers within our community.”

Mr. Blackmore went on to describe the Government’s Housing Revolution and Sanitation Project as an initiative geared at assisting most of the unfortunate brothers and sisters in our communities who do not have the liquid assets to go to the various hardware suppliers to purchase materials to do the necessary repairs to their roofs floorings, claddings or whatever part of their house that is in dire need of repairs.

According to Mr. Blackmore, the programme has seen a slight bit in focus; nonetheless, the Ministry is pleased with the impact of the programme.

House being built in the Carib Territory (left), Portsmouth Housing Development Programme (right)

“Initially, when the programme started, we were targeting the less fortunate people, meaning, those who are indigent, people who are physically challenged or the single female-headed households. But you know, as well as I do, that, once you start assisting one, everybody begins to flood the gate. Nonetheless, we are pretty pleased at the Ministry of the impact of this programme.”

For the last fiscal year, the Ministry spent about four point seven million East Caribbean dollars (XCD 4.7 million) repairing over four hundred and eighty (480) houses in about thirty-one (31) communities around Dominica.