Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne has made a scathing attack on Government’s management and conduct of Barbados’ housing policy, alleging that the establishment of the HOPE (Home Ownership Providing Energy) project was designed to eliminate the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and shift housing development into private hands.
During his near two-and-a-half-hour presentation on a land acquisition resolution debated in the House of Assembly yesterday, the Christ Church South Member of Parliament challenged the Government on its promise of delivering 10 000 housing solutions over the next few years.
He also questioned how $60 million borrowed from the Housing Credit Fund and allocated to the Ministry of Housing was spent.
Thorne’s fiery presentation came after Minister of Housing Christopher Gibbs had admitted that the NHC was “inadvertently omitted” as the vesting entity in a 2022 land resolution in which 7 021 square metres of privately-owned land at Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church, was compulsorily acquired by Government for housing development.
Thorne seized on the omission, repeatedly pressing the Minister of Housing to name the
person in whom the land was vested.
“Whose name was inserted on the original document?” the Opposition Leader asked repeatedly.
In a presentation repeatedly challenged by Government MPs, including Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw, Attorney General Dale Marshall and MP for St Thomas, Cynthia Forde, Thorne raised the issue of “failed” housing projects, specifically calling attention to that at Pool Land, St John, and to the HOPE housing project at Vespera Gardens at Lancaster, St James.
Referring to Gibbs’ remarks, Thorne said: “The Honourable Member said that this Government pursues joint ventures and that this strategy ensures ownership of land and acceleration of projects. I take philosophical opposition to that rationale. You don’t need a joint venture to ensure ownership. Ownership is just a matter of conveying land from the vendor to the purchaser, and it is what NHC has been doing for years in this country,” Thorne contended, adding the NHC had “built several houses in Barbados from the 1950s”.
“The NHC was fired by this Government in favour of something called HOPE,” Thorne contended.
“There was no need for HOPE.”
