THE 17-year-old and his family, who were last year promised a house by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie, are still without the home, even though funds have been made available for its construction.

The Portmore Municipal Council (PMC) said it has put out a tender for the construction of the house for Raheem Powell and his family, however, there has been no interest expressed by contractors.

PMC CEO Naudia Crosskill, who was unable to say why contractors were not interested in the $3.5-million project, said the council will have to retender.

In November 2018, McKenzie, who learnt about Raheem’s plight after last year’s Jamaica Observer front-page story ‘No birth certificate’ detailed the teenager’s separation from the formal education system and his craving for knowledge, promised the family that they would be given a house for Christmas.

However, when the Observer visited the family in January, there was no indication that any new construction had started at the property.

The ministry, in an e-mailed response to the Observer in January, said that the “special housing intervention for Raheem and his mother and brother is scheduled to begin at the end of this month. The project was originally slated for completion in December 2018, but this unfortunately did not materialise as required procurement processes had not yet been completed”.

When the Observer made further checks last month, the family’s living conditions were the same.

At that time, Minister McKenzie told the Observer that the funds were handed over to the PMC to construct the two-bedroom house.

— Racquel Porter