The government will be pumping money into the Home Assistance Project for the
Indigent (HAPI) Programme which targets people in the most vulnerable groups in
society.
The programme comes under the stewardship of Inspector Veldon Raggette who
said since its inception the programme has helped 56 families with either new
homes or repairs to existing homes.
The Cabinet was persuaded that the HAPI initiative has been a shining example of
rescuing those indigent families who have suffered fires that have destroyed all of
their belongings. The Cabinet has ordered EC$500,000.00 to be transferred to the
National Housing Development and Urban Renewal Company for their continued
management of the HAPI programme.
The objective is to ensure that the time between the tragedy of the indigent home
owner and the provision of the new home is greatly shortened. Many of the
supplies are freely given by hardware stores, lumberyards, and cement providers to
construct these homes. The suppliers are usually moved by the situation of the
indigent families and give generously.
Raggette stated that the new funding now being made available will go towards
constructing six new houses in the first instance; two of which will be specially
reserved to house families who experience losses from fires or other disasters.
Construction of these houses may start as early as next week now that the funds are
being made available. The areas where homes will be built include the Point,
Bendals, Jennings and St. Johnson’s Village.