Full-page ads boasting of the gleaming new housing developments on the outskirts of San Fernando and other areas paint a positive picture of the housing situation in Trinidad.

But Housing Minister Keith Rowley’s statements at the Post Cabinet Press Conference last week revealed that the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has fallen way below the mark.

Rowley also admitted that the home improvement grant programme had fallen way below target as over 2,500 applicants for the grant were disqualified.

This was because their maximum income had just slightly exceeded the qualifying limit of $24,000 per year.

There is also a subsidy programme that requires applicants to provide 50 per cent of the cost of the improvements, while the government would grant the homeowner the other 50 per cent.

According to Minister Rowley: “Since its inception in 2005, out of 2,112 applications only 320 qualified, and out of the 1,596 applications randomly selected, 24 per cent were rejected because they could not provide the matching savings required by the programme.”

Rowley admitted that the programme was not nearly as successful as he had hoped it would be.

He noted that most of the applicants sought funding for roof repair, and blamed inflation, an increase in the cost of roofing material, and a general increase in income levels of those who would have qualified a year or two ago, making them ineligible for the grant.

These excuses are credible, and the situation could be viewed as a mixed blessing by the government.

They could boast of an increase in average income levels under their watch, but the bottom line is, the Ministry of Housing, after spending millions of taxpayer’s dollars, has failed once more.

The minister also noted that 15 per cent of the country’s housing stock is in a run down condition (that’s his figure, but casual observation suggests that it’s much higher).

Rowley admitted that the number of successful beneficiaries would continue to be limited unless the qualifying maximum income limit is increased.

He also admitted that the situation would only add to the housing shortage that exists, and that “critical action” is necessary to reverse the situation. To address the problems, Rowley announced that Cabinet had agreed to increase the limits initially set for the home improvement grant programme.

The total amount of money an applicant can have under the programme would be increased from $15,000 to $20,000, and to qualify for that, the applicant’s maximum annual income limit would be increased from $30,000 to $54,000.

The move is expected to immediately assist a much larger number of persons living in dilapidated housing to improve their standard of living.

However, it might just be a drop in the bucket towards the goal of housing for all, and it might be a long time before squatter settlements stop growing.

Rowley also broke the silence surrounding the eventual fate of the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Committee (SILWC).

The Housing Minister announced that Cabinet had decided to make some policy changes with respect to SILWC, a body funded by the State to provide assistance to sugar workers, particularly in the area of the provision and refurbishment of housing.

SILWC has over the years, provided thousands of homes for sugar workers.

The organisation has also assisted many sugar workers in the repair and refurbishment of their homes through loans and grants.

Today, SILWC has a $46 million mortgage portfolio, and 50 years experience in the provision of serviced lots and infrastructure to sugar workers.

Over the years, the agency has developed 22 settlements, and over 15,000 fully serviced lots throughout Trinidad.

The Housing Minister explained that the organisation’s clientele and land portfolio have since been reduced with the closure of Caroni (1975) Limited, the country’s only sugar company.

With the sugar industry almost non-existent, it was inevitable that SILWC would have to be transformed into something more relevant.

But some residents of the SILWC housing settlements insist that the agency has always done a better job than the HDC (formerly NHA) and they worry that, under the new arrangements, they would be at a disadvantage.

Some former sugar workers even feel that SILWC might have done a better and faster job in the delivery of lots and agricultural plots than the controversial Estate Management and Business Development Company (EMBDC).

One Orangefield Settlement resident, Rupnarine Chaitlal, revealed that since the closure of the mammoth sugar company, upkeep of the roads, drainage and other services has been “terrible”.

Chiatlal said that the residents have never had those kinds of problems before, and added that there have been few complaints on the level of service coming from SILWC.

But they put up with the deteriorating living conditions, as they are aware that government has plans to regularise the situation.
The residents were also told that the settlements’ streets and drains were to be turned over to the regional corporations, but this is yet to happen.

The residents are now waiting to see if Cabinet’s decision to merge SILWC with the HDC would impact positively or negatively in their lives.