ST JAMES, Jamaica — Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, says the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) continues to prioritise building homes for vulnerable Jamaicans, particularly those with disabilities.

Holness was addressing the handover ceremony for a new one-bedroom unit to visually impaired Jephtah McIntosh, in Town Head, Westmoreland on January 24. The unit was constructed at a cost of $5.6 million.

“One of the things that I’m particularly proud of with this programme, is that it has assisted many Jamaicans who are vulnerable. We have assisted persons who are wheelchair-bound and persons who have other physical disabilities,” he said.

“We have assisted persons with visual impairments before and it has meant a world of a difference in their lives and I’m happy to be able to hand this house over to you today,” he told McIntosh.

The prime minister encouraged the new homeowner to ensure that the house is maintained and to continue to be an upstanding citizen in his community.

In his response, McIntosh thanked Holness, Member of Parliament, Morland Wilson and Parish Organiser for the National Council for Senior Citizens in Westmorland, Paula Murray, who played a part in ensuring he got a new home.

“I’m so happy, I’m so joyful, I’m so glad. Because if it wasn’t for you and your vision and the administration that you lead, this wouldn’t be possible. Prime minister, God bless you, sir,” he said.

“I never dreamed that I would be sitting beside the prime minister in my country. I can’t even find words to describe my feelings. To know that I am a recipient of a nice, constructed, well-decent home to call my own for the rest of my life. It’s amazing,” McIntosh said.

The NSHP was developed to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and disadvantaged population by providing quality, affordable and sustainable housing.

— JIS