ST ANDREW, Jamaica – Thirty-six residents of St Paul’s Lane in Tower Hill, St Andrew, including several who were displaced by a fire which gutted their dwellings two years ago, received the keys to new houses during a handing-over ceremony in the community on Wednesday.

The residents received the new homes following collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), the National Housing Trust (NHT), and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).

Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for the area, Andrew Holness revealed that initially only 24 homes should have been built. However, he stated that following discussions with members of the community, the decision was taken to clear the entire one-and-a-half-acre plot to facilitate the construction of 36 units.

“It took some time and convincing and it took some guarantee that we would pay rent for those persons who gave up their structures for new structures that would be built. In all, we have 36 units…The moment that we broke ground, and we were coming up out of the foundation, the persons who were sceptical, their minds and their outlook immediately changed, and they wanted to be a part of this”, he stated.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the St Paul’s Lane development will spark a ‘demonstration effect’ for other projects where lands are not readily available for development.

“Once the public sees that this is the policy and it has worked, then we can now move full speed ahead with developing other such communities across Jamaica and in particular, within Kingston and St Andrew”, he noted.
Holness added that communities across Jamaica have already been identified to replicate the St Paul’s Lane development model, adding that the NHT, HAJ and JSIF will be tasked to develop a working model that can easily be deployed to these communities to conduct a proper programme of urban renewal.
“We want to do this for every single inner-city community in Jamaica. This is my wish, and this is my vision, and we have proven that it can be done without any issues, any complaints, any conflicts, we have done it. We have identified the communities. In the next budget there will be an allocation for this urban renewal project”, the prime minister stated.

Among the facilities in the development are a play area, washing and drying area, parking, sewage, water, electricity and other amenities.