BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -– A new social assistance-housing model for people with special needs will be completed in six- to nine-weeks according to National Housing Corporation (NHC) Chairman of the Board Valentine Lindsay. The development, referred to as the Parray Housing Development in Parray Village, will provide special housing needs for people in the community and is one of the first such buildings to be constructed in the area.
The building will house three persons with social housing needs and provide space at the top for rentals.
“This housing solution is significantly special to the Minister Hamilton because he holds the portfolio for Housing and Social Development,” said Lindsay at the Feb. 10 ground-breaking ceremony. He said providing homes for those in need is at the heart of NHC’s mission.
Lindsay said there are several social assistance houses in Keys, Cayon, Dieppe Bay, Old Road, St. Paul’s and Conaree. They provide homes for deserving people who have been pillars of the community, but may have fallen on hard times in their twilight years.
“These houses are occupied by these deserving citizens until they go to meet their Creator, then another deserving citizen would move in,” explained Lindsay.
The multi-house model will feature a two-story structure with three furnished studio apartments with one- and two-bedroom apartments and rental space on the top floor.
Lindsay said NHC has distributed 126 houses, with 100 under more under construction. It will begin construction on 75 more houses in the next five weeks.
“NHC’s mandate, which is legislated by the National Housing Act, is to provide homes for the indigent and the infirmed,” explained Lindsay. “In 2016, the NHC board of directors negotiated a loan with the Social Security Board of EC $50 million to build 300 homes throughout the island.”
Joan Napier, a resident of St. Peters Village, said she is pleased that the NHC is providing for those in need in her community.
“On behalf of the residents of St. Peters, we greatly appreciate the gesture for this housing solution. Thank you very much,” Mrs. Napier said.
