KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is looking forward to a positive end to the 2017/2018 fiscal year, as it increases the effort to collect funds owed on existing housing developments.

The agency has already seen a turnaround with profits of $183 million at the end of the 2016/17 financial year, after suffering a loss of $886 million in the 2015/2016 financial year.

Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Richard Jones, said much of the outstanding sums are for properties in St James, St Ann, St Mary, Westmoreland, Hanover and St Catherine.

“Our chairman has indicated that we expect to make in excess of $700 million profit this year. We are working hard on getting persons who have not paid for their lots to pay and this will assist in our revenue flows as well,” Jones said.

He added that persons who have settled with the HAJ and collected their titles have been able to use these to access loans for further education, to start a business, as well as overseas travel. The HAJ is a land and housing development company that provides shelter solutions for Jamaicans islandwide.

It was formed in 1998 through the merger of three entities — Caribbean Housing Finance Corporation Limited (CHFC), National Housing Corporation Limited (NHC) and Operation PRIDE.

The core mandate of the HAJ is to bring lower-to-middle-income housing solutions to the public as well as to regularise informal settlements across the country.