Hon. McKeeva BushUp Front
$5M For Low CostHomes
Hon. McKeeva Bush
This was revealed by the Hon. McKeeva Bush,the Minister responsible for Housing, following his return froma meeting he had with a loans management group from the CDB inSt. Lucia last week.
Just a couple of months ago, Mr. Bush announcedin the Legislative Assembly, that there will be a merger of thetwo bodies, which are responsible for dealing with the issue ofaffordable housing and loans to locally owned businesses.
It is anticipated that, later this yearthe Agricultural and Industrial Development Board (AIDB) and theHousing Development Authority (HDA) will become one entity tobe known as the Cayman Islands Development Bank.
Arriving in Cayman on 11 June, will be aCDB team, who will be conducting a country assessment exerciseas a precursor to the final approval for the loans agreed uponfor affordable housing.
A requirement for the loans will be thathomes will not exceed $60,000 and components must be purchasedfrom countries belonging to the CDB. This will exclude the UnitedStates, as that country has not renewed its membership of theorganization.
Hon. George McCarthy,Hon. Roy Bodden
It is known that Government is looking intothe amendments to the Land Law, which will allow housing lotsto be reduced to a mini mum of 50 60 ft. wide. This willincrease the yield per acre to be as much as eight, instead ofthe now maximum of four in high-density sub-divisions.
Interestingly, the money to be allocatedfor homes by the CDB, which will be loaned at a ceiling of ninepercent interest for up to 25 years, will also include provisionsfor renovations and additions to existing homes for sums rangingfrom$1,000 to $25,000 for up to 15 years.
In addition to the housing loan portfolio,Mr. Bush was able to secure an additional $1.5 million to be madeavailable for small business loans.
Attending the meeting with Mr. Bush wasthe Hon. George McCarthy, Financial Secretary; Ms. Angela Miller,Manager of the AIDB/HDA and Ms. Elizabeth Parsan, an analyst withMr. McCarthy's office.
Hon. Roy Bodden, the Minster for Educationand Mr. Bush also traveled to Barbados to learn
about the training programmes for Caymanian Hospitality Industryworkers. It is expected that there will soon be an announcementin regard to this initiative.