LUCEA, Hanover-- Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang says the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) has entered into discussions with several landowners in Hanover, in an effort to address the chronic housing shortage in the parish.

"We are badly in need of housing in Hanover, so were are presently having discussions with the owners of lands at Cousins Cove and Winchester so that we can provide more housing," Dr Chang told the regular monthly meeting of the Hanover Parish Council last Thursday.

At the same time, he said his ministry was trying to identify more suitable lands for housing developments in other sections of the parish.

According to Dr Chang, the expansion of the tourism sector in the parish has created the need for more housing, especially for low-income groups.

Hanover -- located on the north western tip of the island -- covers an area of approximately 430 km square and has a population of roughly 72,000.

The parish shares the popular Negril strip where a number of hotels are located. The 1,600- room Grand Palladium Resort Spa which was opened just over two years ago, as well as the Tryall and Round Hill hotels are also located in the parish.

Additionally, a number of developments including the $500,000-million Dolphin Cove Marine Park are expected to be commissioned later this year in the parish.

Recent tourism-related developments, Dr Chang said, have created the need for more housing solutions.

According to a survey undertaken by the state-run National Housing Trust (NHT) there was a shortage of 9,073 housing units in the parish in 2006.

Dr Chang told Thursday's meeting that if the housing needs of the parish are not addressed soon, there will be "significant levels of informal settlements in the parish in the near future".

"The workers need the housing badly. Many of them who work in the hotel industry, for example, have to travel from far to get to work. There are some people who have to travel from as far as Montego Bay and Savanna-la-Mar -- distances of up to more than 25 miles -- to get to work," he later told the Observer.

He urged the councillors to assist the housing ministry in its efforts to identify suitable lands for housing developments in the parish.

CHANG... we are badly in need of housing in Hanover

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