SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Opposition Senator Damion Crawford is urging the Government and the National Housing Trust (NHT) to allow beneficiaries to pass on their unused benefits after death.

It is a suggestion, he said, that was first laid out in the People’s National Party’s manifesto ahead of the general election in 2020. He is convinced that it will help address challenges faced by many Jamaicans who cannot afford a house.

“We want for people to be able to give, in a will, their NHT benefits. How much people work all dem life and when dem a dead dem can’t lef nothing to dem children? Why you don’t allow them to say, ‘You know mi did work down a Frome, or mi did work down a Sandals, and mi have some NHT points; when you grow, gwaan guh use it.’ I want them to will their NHT points,” he said.

He was addressing the People’s National Party (PNP) Petersfield Divisional Conference on Sunday at the community high school.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Monday, Crawford said he believed the proposal, if implemented, would help address the long-standing issue of squatting.

“It is accepted that we have a housing crisis in Jamaica. Not enough people have access to shelter and, in particular, legitimate shelter. Many of us would have been accused of being squatters; so even many of our people who have a roof over their head, they’re defined as an illegal resident or a squatter. There needs to be some rectification of this crisis that we are facing,” he said.

According to Crawford, there could be numerous factors which prevent people from benefiting from their contributions to the NHT, and some system needs to be put in place to ensure that, in cases like these, their heirs benefit. Contributors are able to access mortgages, based on a points system. Applicants are awarded 20 points for every 52 weeks of contributions. They are also awarded points based on their income level. Points are not transferrable but a qualified contributor can be listed as a co-applicant. In that case, the salaries of both applicants are used to assess the application.

“You find that by the time a lot of the children of the low-income segment of the society reach to the point that they can purchase a home, that individual no longer has access to their points,” he said.

“Basically, what we’re recommending is that when a person dies — and sometimes the person dies before the child or loved one is even an adult — there could be a system in place that they could leave in their will,” Crawford told the Observer.

He said this would allow more people from low-income families to be able to own a house in their lifetime.

“You can imagine how many low-income people don’t have an asset, and by extension have nothing to will to their children? So if they could leave in their will their years of service to the community by working, and their contributions to the NHT, I think that would fast-track house ownership for some of the children of, in particular, low-income individuals within our society,” Crawford said.

He believes the proposal is solid.

“We have researched it and we are proposing that the Government and the NHT considers it. We have long spoken about the multiplicity of people that [have] never benefited from the NHT and continue to [contribute to the] NHT. Many [are] uninformed and don’t get or claim their returns, and so we believe that persons like myself could benefit from an aunt without a child or a mother or a father who died early to say, ‘I’m leaving this for your future development,’ ” he stated.

Crawford is also proposing that the Government hold forums where citizens can not only voice their concerns, but also offer solutions to problems that may arise.

“I believe the Government should pick two or three things. Crime can be one, housing, and maybe education. And keep independent, three-day summits that Jamaicans just come and say, ‘I have an idea,’ — whether from the Church or from the media or just a regular citizen or the other political party — to say, ‘Maybe we should consider this for the problems that we face,’ ” he suggested.