PAROTTEE, St Elizabeth — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says another 300 container homes are set to arrive in the country today as part of the Government’s push to assist Jamaicans including those here whose homes were destroyed by last October’s Hurricane Melissa.

He said 1,200 of the housing solutions are already in Jamaica in addition to the 300 expected today.

“The remaining 1,000 we expect to be here by July. These units will form the basis of the Government’s response for persons who must be relocated from areas that have been significantly damaged or for persons who have lost everything and are not able to rebuild,” the prime minister said, in reference to the 2,500 housing solutions to be deployed to victims of the Category 5 storm.

Holness made the remarks on Thursday during the National Housing Trust’s (NHT’s) handing over of 27 service lots in Malvern, St Elizabeth. Addressing the crowd, he pointed to the coastal community of Parottee, which was among the areas hard hit, as one of the areas to benefit from relocation.

“A large part of it will be deployed right here in St Elizabeth. Our brothers and sisters who are on the coast in Parottee, an area that was badly damaged, which I toured [and] it is quite clear that the cost of reconstruction there would be quite higher than the houses that you are trying to save,” he explained.

“We have already indicated to the people of Parottee that the area has to be relocated and we will do it in such a way that their livelihood will be preserved, the value of their asset will be preserved, but most importantly their dignity will be preserved. It is not going to be an overnight process, it will be a process that involves [residents] at every step; they can be assured of what we are doing,” added Holness.

He said the NHT, the Urban Development Corporation and the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation will be partnering on the initiative.

“In this relocation NaRRA (the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority) will play a critical coordinating role in ensuring that everybody is working on the same script and everybody is working quickly to ensure that the people who have been dislocated will get the benefit,” the prime minister said.

He reiterated that individuals sheltering at Petersfield High School will also benefit from the container homes.

“The NHT has also identified two clusters in Westmoreland [to] build the semi-permanent solutions. The introduction of these housing solutions into Jamaica is going to be carefully studied. We want to see whether or not these solutions can be deployed widely and a financing mechanism can be used for them,” said Holness.

“We are going to look at the sociology of it. How are people’s lives changed [and] behaviours [changed] by having access to these kinds of housing,” he added.

He said the NHT has identified five areas where the container homes will be sent.

“Units that have be deployed randomly across the island, those will be done through the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development… The NHT is also making a contribution to the building of the bases on which these semi-permanent housing solutions will be put,” he said while pointing out that the NHT has spent more than US$29 million to purchase 2,500 semi-permanent modular solutions.

During his speech, Holness again pushed back against criticism over the largely unspent $1.4 billion in hurricane donations.

“The Government may not have used that $1.4 billion, but it spent almost $67 billion on all the things that people needed. We took a decision that the resources that were contributed would be matched with needs that are tangible, visible, traceable and meaningful — lasting. We make no excuse for that,” he said.

“That is what distinguishes my administration from administrations of the past. We make wise financial decisions. Any donor who has contributed to the hurricane relief in Jamaica would be proud to see these homes being erected and the bases being pointed to. It is quite different from saying, ‘Well all of it was used to buy food or given as a grant where nobody is going to come up front and say I got it. There is no testimonial’. The house that is erected is there, it is visible… The resources are there and you will see what the resources were used for,” added Holness.