Government's$4 million Housing Scheme To Have Social Component
A renderingof Government's proposed low cost homes.
Government's first major housing scheme,part of which will be completed by Christmas, will also have astrong social component at its core.
Minister of Housing Dr. Frank McField saidthat a major plank of the US$3.7million project will be the creationof stronger social cohesion which should redound to the benefitof the Caymanian society.
"Government decided that as part ofour proactive, preventative strategy with regards to the growthin juvenile delinquency and crime, that by providing low costhousing we should be able to attack this problem at the domesticlevel where we felt was the genesis for a lot of the social issueswhich we have been addressing in the commission of inquiry intosocial breakdown and youth violence," Dr. McField said.
He was speaking last Friday at the signingof contract between Government and an Italian company VetromeccanicheInvestment Limited which produces pre-engineered houses.
From left:Mr. Jeff Webb, Hon. Dr. Frank McField, Dr. Paolo Sanminiatelli,and Mr. Carson Ebanks.
The houses will be in the form of 120 two-bedroomand study units valued at $60,000 each and 80 two-bedroom unitsvalued at $48,000. The homes will be fully furnished and can withstandwind loads of 135 miles an hour; a category three hurricane. Theunits, which were first spotted in Cuba, will be built from ISORGHE/ ISOPIANO sandwich panels which are widely used globally withprojects in Italy, Spain, Arabia, Colombia, Dominican RepublicRepublic and Mexico.
The houses will be built on four acres atNorth Town Courts and on two sites on West Bay totaling 11 acres.Owners of the homes will be given freehold titles to the spots.
Dr. McField said that the project was basedon the rationale that unless Cayman can maintain its social capitaland preserve social cohesiveness, the financial capital will beat risk.
"We are developing not only a physicalenvironment but we are also going to be engineering a social environment,so we are terming these communal communities," Dr. McFieldsaid. "Because unlike American where persons that were placedin projects have already been urbanised where the extended familysystem and the communal relationship which resulted from extendedfamilies were destroyed, we in the Cayman Islands have still beenable to receive positive benefits from our extended family systemand we would like to resurrect those concepts by giving peoplespace to continue to coexists in these communal types of settings."
He noted that although the Cayman Islandswas a very wealthy society, there were many people who are classifiedas "the working poor". These, he said, are people whoare earning below a level that allows them to be able to purchasebasic necessities like housing.
Based on a 1999 study, it was reported thatout of a Caymanian working population of 10,630 more than 6,226Caymanians were earning between $12000 and $23,900 per annum.
McField conceded that with respect to solvingCayman's housing problems, the 200 houses in this project were"just like a little drip in the bucket.
He noted that the housing problem here wascompounded because over the years the Guaranteed Mortgage Schemehas not been able to help those persons who are making $1000 permonth or even $2000 or $2500 per month.
"So that what was necessary from thevery beginning was to be able to aggressively manage costs ofconstructions materials, labour costs and land costs. We willmake sure we manage costs and we will be able to deliver the twobedroom and study for below $60,000 and that we will be able todeliver the two-bedroom for below $48,000. We have no guaranteeswith regard to labour and all the other variables that we don'tcontrol, but we do control the price of government land,"he said.
"But what is also very important isthat people won't be able to exploit the system. You won't beable to go in there and buy a house and make a profit on it simplybecause of government subsidy in the form of land cost. Therewill be restrictions as to what a person and owner can do."
He stressed that the scheme was not forno-income individuals, but rather, for low and very low-incomepersons.
"That is the target at this point inthe first phase and as we go along, depending upon what the feedbackis from the society we will adjust our schemes."
Permanent Secretary Mr. Carson Ebanks, saidthe project was an excellent one which was designed to meet allexisting electrical, plumbing and building codes in Cayman.
He noted that the houses are guaranteedfrom any type of structural of manufacturing defects for 20 yearswithout any maintenance.
" We think we have a good project andwe think it is something that the Cayman Islands has been lackingfor some time now," Mr. Ebanks said..
Dr. Paolo Sanminiatelli, of VetromeccanicheInvestment Limited, said the Cayman Islands was one of the bestplaces in the Caribbean and he was pleased to be associated withthe country and the project.
"We have tried to offer an economicproject. The interest of the Government is to offer a house ata price that can be for the medium or low-income earner. The qualitywill be very good," he said.
Meantime, McField said the United DemocraticParty, particularly the Honourable Mr. McKeeva Bush who was instrumentalin brining the project to Cayman, was fully supporting the venture.
Jeff Webb, of the UDP said that it was atremendous occasion for the party to be "touching the livesand helping to better the lives of Caymanians".
Cayman Islands Development Banks will bethe main provider of finance for the project, but Government willbe negotiating with other banks.