PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday sought to assure the nation that the National Housing Trust (NHT) will still be able to honour all its commitments to its contributors, despite the Government's decision to use $45.6 billion of NHT funds for budgetary support.

"As I acknowledge the work of the NHT for building houses and communities, I also wish to acknowledge their role in helping to build Jamaica and its economy at this critical time. The NHT will be able to honour all its commitments to its contributors, and at the same time will remain a major player in the construction industry, spending billions of dollars as is customary," the prime minister said.

She was speaking at the handing-over ceremony of NHT houses in the Longville Park Phase 3 scheme in Clarendon yesterday.

The prime minister said the Government faced several hard choices, which included approaching the NHT, raising taxes even further or introducing additional taxes. "Everyone would have to pay more, much more than they already are, we do not want to do that. That is why we entered into talks with the NHT. If we had to impose more taxes, then the cost of everything would increase, such as houses, interest rates on loans and mortgages, food and other basic necessities. That is a situation we could not accept or follow," said Simpson Miller.

One hundred new homeowners were yesterday morning presented with their keys and documents to their homes in the new section of Longville Park. Of the 918 houses, the NHT approved 165 home grants of $1.2 million each to help low-income contributors with their purchase.

The beneficiaries also included 20 young professionals between the ages of 25-40, 20 low income contributors, and one disabled person.

Longville Park Phase 3 was developed at a cost of $4.8 billion.