Holness says NSHP will deploy China-sourced modular homes after Melissa

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has outlined plans for the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) to deliver modular, semi-permanent dwellings as part of reconstruction in communities hit hardest by Hurricane Melissa.

He made the remarks on July 3 while handing over a two-bedroom NSHP home in Caenwood, Portland. Holness said the programme must now redirect capacity toward St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St James, Trelawny, and sections of St Ann and Manchester.

“Those areas were particularly badly damaged [by Hurricane Melissa] and we have tasked the New Social Housing Programme to support the deployment of what we call the modular semi-permanent housing solution,” Dr Holness said.

The dwellings were purchased in China and brought into Jamaica. Holness stressed that each unit requires a prepared foundation before it can be occupied. “We can’t just put them down on the raw earth. So, they have to create a concrete platform and the New Social Housing Programme will take on that task,” the prime minister said.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) will assist the NSHP in rolling out the modular, semi-permanent stock.

Holness added that “when those 2,000 units are put in place, we will monitor them [and] we will study them to see how well they stand up to Jamaican conditions, to see potentially how long they will last”.

The Caenwood house went to Recardo Gibson, who will share it with his wife and son. Minister of energy, telecommunications and transport and Portland Western Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz recommended Gibson for the programme after becoming aware of the family’s former living situation.

Through the NSHP, Holness said, Gibson now has “a structure in which himself and his wife and his other family members can live with some dignity”.

He also said the new build is reshaping how neighbours view their surroundings. “Having this lovely structure in the community has lifted the community. When others of you are deciding to build, you’re going to say, ‘I want my house to look like this and to be as strong as this.’ And so, this house also changes the possibilities for you [and] your expectations,” Holness said.

By July 3, the NSHP had finished 341 housing units comprising 901 rooms, serving 1,652 people in 57 constituencies. The Caenwood delivery is the fourth unit completed in the Portland Western constituency.