KINGSTON, Jamaica — National Housing Trust (NHT) mortgagees experiencing financial challenges and difficulty meeting their payments may access support under the agency’s Special Assistance Programme.

Addressing a recent Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) forum at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew, NHT Senior General Manager, Dr Lanie Marie Oakley Williams, reaffirmed the trust’s commitment to serving its contributors, especially during times of financial difficulty.

“If the persons that you know, your friends and family members, have an issue with paying their mortgage, they can come to the National Housing Trust or they can apply for special assistance. Some of these include payment arrangements, moratorium, rescheduling, interest rate reductions, extension of the mortgage term and also loan consolidation,” she said.

Oakley Williams indicated that persons may apply through the NHT’s website at www.nht.gov.jm or contact the entity via e-mail [wecare@nht.gov.jm], or calling 1-876-929-6500-9.

Meanwhile, Oakley Williams noted that the JPC played an integral role in enhancing the Special Assistance Programme.

These enhancements resulted in faster application processing and the implementation of quality control mechanisms, significantly improving the overall customer experience.

“Our journey to productivity excellence started with the JPC last year when were required to select a process for improvement in two weeks. So we said to them, ‘give us the tools’; and so JPC actually gave us the tools that we could use to enhance our process,” the senior general manager outlined.

The National Housing Trust was established in 1976 through an amendment to the National Insurance Act.

The trust’s mission is to increase and enhance the stock of available housing in Jamaica, while providing financial assistance to contributors seeking to build, buy, or repair their homes.

— JIS