Manchester gets two indigent houses
HATFIELD, Manchester: Two more indigent homes, which were conceptualized under the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development’s Municipal Social Assistance Programme (MSAP), have been handed over in the parish of Manchester.
The studio units were constructed at a cost of approximately $6 million by the Manchester Municipal Corporation. The local authority will be reimbursed by the Ministry.
“I am proud of the Manchester Municipal Corporation. This project was financed from own source funds specifically sub-divisions and building fees,” shared Mayor of Mandeville, Councillor Donovan Mitchell. “We intend to refurbish a third structure on the property and upgrade it for its occupant who is visually impaired.”
He also said the local authority will be looking to undertake repairs to dwellings occupied by those in need across the parish.
Minister Desmond McKenzie on April 25, 2019 officially presented the furnished units to beneficiaries Mr. Denroy Rowe, who was given temporary housing at the Manchester Infirmary, and Mr. Clifton McPherson, a street person.
The Minister said the men will be monitored weekly by the Poor Relief Department.
“We do not give them the units and leave them on their own. We have to ensure their safety otherwise they would be placed in the infirmaries and treated there so the houses are an extension of the infirmaries and we are committed to ensure that we maintain a very high standard,” he explained.
“We have more under construction and by August we would have completed the first round of 28 that were committed and then we will roll out more than 50 more across the country in the new financial year.”
To date, 11 housing solutions have been constructed under MSAP.
Mr. Rowe, who is also physically-challenged, was a loss for words.
“No one has to ask me if I love it (the house)…I feel it in my heart,” he said.
