The keys to two National Housing Development Co (NHDC) housing units at St-Hubert, were handed over, Thursday afternoon, by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo, to Mr Gassendra Veerasamy and Mr Kersley Telvave, who currently live in vulnerable conditions in St-Hilaire and Cité Beau Vallon respectively.
The Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, the Government Chief Whip, Mrs Naveena Ramyead, and the Parliamentary Private Secretary, Mrs Teenah Jutton, were also present.
In a statement, Deputy Prime Minister Steven Obeegadoo recalled that the authorities were alerted by the deputies of the relevant constituency of the particular hardship cases and lauded them for the on-site work that they carry out.
The NHDC, he indicated, carried out an investigation after taking cognizance of these cases and concluded that they were genuine hardship cases. In this context, the Officers of the NHDC helped Mr Veerasamy and Mr Telvave who had submitted their applications since five and eight years respectively, to obtain each, a housing unit at the St Hubert NHDC Residence.
Furthermore, the DPM recalled that two-third of the NHDC expenses are borne by the authorities and the remaining which represent a small percentage is paid by the beneficiary over a 30-year period. The NHDC’s database is also being updated to determine how many families need housing units and the economic and social profiles of these families so as to help them in an efficient manner, he emphasised.
Mr Obeegadoo underlined that some 3,000 additional housing units of the NHDC will be completed and allocated to beneficiaries in the three years to come as one of Government’s priorities is the construction of housing units for people at different rungs of the social ladder.
Minister Obeegadoo also spoke about social housing and the necessity for vulnerable families to have access to a decent dwelling. On this score, he reassured that Government will do its uttermost to complete the construction of the 12,000 units as announced in Budget 2020-2021.
For his part, Mr Seeruttun highlighted that Mr Veerasamy and Mr Telvave and their families were living in very difficult situations and as they had applied for NHDC housing units since a very long time, it was essential to consider their cases.
Moreover, he added that due to frequent torrential rains and flash floods in the region of St Hilaire and Beau Vallon, the houses where the applicants and their family lived were falling apart and leaking from everywhere, hence, the urgency to consider their cases as hardship cases.
