By L.K. Hewlett
St. Kitts Reporter
Some former sugar workers have expressed disgruntlement and confusion with regard to just who would be eligible for homes under the new housing scheme announced recently by Minister of Agriculture, Land, Housing, Fisheries and Co-operatives, the Honourable Cedric Liburd.
The problems arose after some of the ex SSMC workers heard that not everyone who had worked in the closed industry were eligible to receive a house.
One such person brought his concerns to The Observer saying that he had worked all his life in the cane fields but was told he could not get a house because his wife had already received a low-income home.
“When I went to them I asked if I could get a house and they asked all kinds of questions about how much I work for and if anyone in my family got a house already. I told them my wife got a house but at the time she put down her name and her eldest son’s name on the papers. She didn’t work in the sugar industry so the house she got wasn’t a part of what sugar workers was getting. As a former sugar worker, someone who work factory all them years, I think I deserve a house for all that hard labour,” the man said under the agreement of anonymity. He man said that should his wife leave him or if she passed away, he still would not have a home of his own.
During his media briefing, the minister had explained that not every single former sugar worker would qualify for housing under the latest housing scheme but that they could also apply for low income housing through the National Housing Corporation or seek financing through the Development Bank.
“There is a criteria for former sugar workers to receive a house. First it must be their first home that they are going to own, and the other part of it is that they must be below the poverty line. We placed all of the names of persons working in the sugar industry at the time that it closed with the Ministry of Social Development and they were asked to carry out the assessment and it was done. That assessment took into consideration a number of things such as age and salary.
“However, we will be reviewing that list. Even though someone may not meet the criteria for housing under the scheme for former sugar workers, they could always apply to NHC to obtain a home through that medium,” Liburd had said.
According to the latest Post Cabinet Statement, ‘minor adjustments’ have been made to the existing land distribution policy. Under the new policy, government has earmarked 500 acres of land to allocate 5000 house lots. These lots will be developed with infrastructure and distributed to first time land owners at a subsidised rate. This subsidy will only apply to land measuring up to 4000 square feet, any excess land will be sold at current market rates. Prime Minister Honourable Denzil Douglas said that the launch date or the scheme and its location will be announced to the public ‘very shortly’, along with the application procedure and price of said lands.
