Beaming with pride and joy on Tuesday, Rosemary Lane resident Andrea Burke collected the keys to her new house in central Kingston, officially bringing an end to years of living in squalor-like conditions.

She received the three-bedroom, one-bathroom house under the Government’s New Social Housing Programme and received the keys from Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

“I feel so good and wonderful. The house I had before was no good. It was made out of board. It was old and leaking. The roof was never good and it was uncomfortable. The Government saw that I needed it,” Burke told the Jamaica Observer.

The mother of four, who is also a grandmother, shared that she has lived at the same address for more than 30 years. While she was not the original owner, Burke took the necessary legal steps to own the land on which her new house has been built.

“I looked about the land title and the Member of Parliament Donovan Williams pushed it through the house for me. This is not a family land but I have lived here for over 30 years. I came here to live and the people said I captured the place. When I went to the land titling office, nobody was paying the taxes for the land so I just started paying it. I paid off the taxes and then the programme came in. Living conditions were hard for me before now. I have four children and grandchildren who live with me, so I am more than grateful,” she said, adding that construction on the house started around February.

Her friend Monique Codwell said Burke’s living conditions were “a mess” before she got her new house.

“Right now the view is better than the view before. It didn’t look appropriate. It looked like a yard where you dumped rubbish,” she said.

One of Burke’s daughters, Stacy Campbell, said watching her mother receive her new house was a “joyous” moment.

“It is a mansion compared to what it was before. Before, it was like a castle for rats. I am very grateful now,” she said with a wide smile.

Burke’s other daughter, Sabrina Williams, who will occupy the house with her, said she is looking forward to being a lot more comfortable.

“I am feeling wonderful. We really deserve it. We finally got through after a long wait. Before, the roof was leaking and we were uncomfortable whenever it rained, but God is good because we won’t get wet anymore, even if another hurricane like Melissa comes. We can sleep comfortably and we don’t have to go outside to use the bathroom. Toilet and everything are under one roof. Big up to the prime minister,” said Williams, who held a young baby in her arms.

Holness beamed with pride as he stressed that one less family will be living in indignity.

“We are all better off because there is one less person living in poor housing condition. But we also want you to be an example to the rest of the community that if I receive a benefit from the society, I am not going to take that benefit and become a menace to the society. I’m going to take that benefit and be an example of good, an ambassador for positive living.”

He outlined a list of things they should not do with the house that was funded with tax dollars.

He implored Burke to ensure she maintains the house, not to rent it out to anyone and urged her to ensure that all activities taking place at the premises are legal. The prime minister also told her to ensure that any further construction to the building must be approved by the authorities.

“If you’re going to make any adjustment to this house you should contact the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development because the house is built to carry a certain weight and if you put more weight on it than it is built for, it might collapse. We want to know what you plan to do before you do it so we can advise you properly how to do it, how to reinforce it,” Holness said.