Opposition members grilled Health and Social Development Minister Carvin Malone on the state of the housing recovery last Thursday in the House of Assembly, claiming that many residents are being left behind.
In response to questions from Opposition Leader Marlon Penn, Mr. Malone said he could not provide a number of people still displaced from the 2017 storms.
He did say, however, that 71 households have qualified for āsocial housingā under the Housing Recovery Assistance Programme, and that funding was made available to build 23 homes for those households, which are in various stages of completion. A list of the 41 of those households that have been approved since March was circulated to members last Thursday, but it hasnāt been provided to the press.
Mr. Malone said his ministry would reach out to assist applicants on the waiting list as more funding becomes available. He added that some displaced families are eligible to receive rent assistance through the Public Assistance Programme managed by the Social Development Department, and that households can also apply for building material grants between $5,000 and $7,500.
He also said that displaced residents are encouraged to submit an application to the HSD Ministry, which reaches out to āhighly vulnerableā residents directly to help with the application process.
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria for social housing are then ranked based on a āvulnerability scoreā that takes into account factors like income, disability, physical limitation, age, and current housing conditions, he explained, adding that this system is designed to ensure that the neediest households can be assisted with the limited amount of funds available.
āFor people who are in dire need, we need to get this moving,ā he said before acknowledging, āThe system may not be as fast as we would like.ā
āWhatās happening?ā
In response, Mr. Penn urged that the housing recovery process be sped up.
āPersons are still coming to me daily wanting to know if the process changed, whatās happening, what they need to do to get some assistance, to get some help,ā he said.
Mr. Malone responded that his ministry has been āworking around the clockā to assist residents.
He later said in response to questions from Fourth District Representative Mark Vanterpool that in the past year Cabinet has approved several changes to the programme to allow the awarding of partial grants through the direct engagement of local contractors to allow more applicants to make their home watertight and complete plumbing works.
āThere are those persons who require just a small amount of building materials and are prepared to provide the labour to put this in place,āhe said. āWe do not want those persons to be limited by the criteria for the additional [programmes].ā
List of grants
He added that a list of the grants that have been allocated under this system was included in the document provided to Mr. Penn, which has not yet been made available to the press.
The delay in issuing the grants, he said, was because the funding for the programme was originally placed in the āloan accountā and it took time to repurpose the funds. Mr. Vanterpool also stressed the urgency of the issue.
āWhen you go to the ministry, you get some long answers,ā he said. āIn the meantime, the people Iām speaking about ⦠have no place to sleep.ā
Living at The Stickett
Regarding a man who Mr. Penn said had been living at The Stickett in Long Look for months, Mr. Malone responded that the man had actually been living there for years.
He added that the Safe Haven Transitional Centre has been in contact with the man and his family, and that he has housing options both with his family and at the centre.