‘WIN-WIN’ AS TT CONTRACTOR SET TO BUILD 2,400 HOUSES IN SKN

THE Government of St. Kitts-Nevis (SKN) has lauded the planned construction of 2,400 houses by a Trinidad and Tobago-based contractor.

Minister of Housing and Human Settlement Dr. Geoffrey Hanley said the project is “a great opportunity” to become a homeowner, and one of his administration’s “housing solutions.”

In a media address, Hanley said the venture is “a win-win” for tradesmen of SKN, with opportunities for contractors, civil engineers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, draftsmen, and other skilled workers.

He said that 99 per cent of workers would be recruited from SKN.

Hanley, who was acting Prime Minister at the time of his address, spoke on the heels of the revelation that East Coast Housing Development Company Ltd. had secured the construction project.

The contract is worth EC $600 million (about TT $1.5 billion).

The company is based in T&T.

Hanley said that “cutting-edge technology” would be utilised with reinforced concrete forms.

The contract calls for the delivery of 600 affordable houses each year, of one, two, and three bedrooms.

Each house would be outfitted with a refrigerator, a stove, and a solar water heater.

The houses would be on State lands or on properties owned by applicants.

Hanley revealed an online application process and said that funding would be provided by financial institutions in SKN.

In an earlier statement to Parliament, he said: “We made a commitment to the country that we are going to deliver homes, and homes we will deliver.”

He said that sustainable construction methods would be used in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

In an interview, East Coast’s CEO Bryan Singh said a model house would be constructed within the next few weeks.