BREAKING ground Friday for the construction of 700 new homes at Greater Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness challenged local contractors to embrace technology and invest in equipment that can accelerate the pace of delivery.

“The building technologies that we are using today are outdated and expensive. We need more of our private contractors and our private developers to start using modern technology. It’s not just to build the houses more cost-effectively, but we have to move away from building the matches boxes, the heat boxes, to building things that look modern, aesthetically pleasing and sustainable. That is my challenge today to our developers,” Holness said, adding that he expects that within the next 18 months he will be back at the location to present keys to the owners of the new units.

“The role of Government is to use legislation, and fiscal incentives, and moral suasion to guide and sometimes direct the private developers into the undeserved areas of the market. But we are seeing an influx of overseas private contractors who have solved the problem of being able to build quickly and deliver quickly at a reasonable price because they have integrated significant technology and equipment into their operations,” Holness said.

“Almost every day we are getting proposals. The only thing they want from us would be land. But I am thinking that I want my local contractors to do this. I want my local contractors to develop the capability to deliver these houses quickly. I can’t just give away everything to overseas and foreign investors. I want my local contractors to benefit, but at the same time I want the people to get houses,” the prime minister said.

The units — 280 one-bedroom and 420 two-bedroom houses — will be built under a partnership agreement with the National Housing Trust (NHT), the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), and M&M Jamaica Limited, across two parcels of land.

They will form the D2 and D3 phases of the Greater Bernard Lodge housing development programme and will include paved roads, storm water drains, perimeter walls, street signs, and other essential amenities.

Cedar Grove Academy students who performed at Friday’s ground breaking for 700 houses at Greater Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, huddle for a photo with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness (centre) after he congratulated them on their performance. Photo: Garfield Robinson

The $11.62-billion project will expand the supply of housing available to NHT contributors.

Arguing that the practise of squatting will persist if enough isn’t done to provide shelter for the many Jamaicans who have no home for themselves, Holness reiterated that his Administration remains committed to its election promise of building 70,000 houses.

“So, the 70,000 is very ambitious. I’m hanging my hat where I will have to stretch to reach it,” he said.

“We have been stretching. The NHT was tasked to build 42,000 of that, and my last check showed that they have seen their way in terms of what they have already constructed — what is in contracts, what is in procurement, and what is in planning. They are over 40,000, so they have seen the slate of what they should construct. The chairman told you that since the start of the year we have broken ground for 2,000. We are now at over 8,000 houses under construction or out of construction,” the prime minister said.

Lynvale Freeman, the NHT chairman, said that Friday’s ground-breaking represented not just the turning of soil but the expansion of homeownership in Jamaica. He said it was important to do it in St Catherine because of its close proximity to Kingston, among other important factors.

“The common goal is to build as many houses at the lowest price point,” Freeman said.