The Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo, proceeded on Monday afternoon, with a symbolic handing over of key to a social housing unit to the Bernard family of Cité Ducray, Sainte-Croix, in Port-Louis. The family will benefit from a housing unit of the National Housing Development Company Ltd (NHDC) at Résidence Glaïeuls in Dagotière.
Résidence Glaïeuls comprises, among others, 300 housing units, two children’s playgrounds, a jogging track, an outdoor gym, two pétanque courts, a commercial space, and a community centre.
In a statement, the Acting Prime Minister indicated that Giani and Marie Kelly Bernard and their 11-year-old daughter were living in precarious conditions and had to constantly move from one place to another in search of a house. He underlined that their case was treated as a case of extreme distress by the NHDC after a social investigation.
Consequently, he said, Government has, on a humanitarian and solidarity basis, acted promptly to provide the family with a housing unit so that they can live a life of dignity as well as progress in life.
The Acting Prime Minister further stated that some 30,000 families are on the NHDC’s waiting list and that Government will do its best to build a maximum of social housing units so as to provide them with a decent dwelling. He also pointed out that Government on humanitarian grounds gives special consideration to families in extreme distress. These humanitarian acts will be maintained to ensure the well-being of the population, he affirmed.
The Acting Prime Minister moreover reiterated Government’s commitment to providing a housing unit to those in need and indicated that the construction of 12,000 houses will start next month in Coromandel and will eventually be carried out in different regions across the island. The NHDC project at Wooton is expected to be carried out by the end of this year, he added.
