NHDC chairman David Chung (left) signs the $147M-contract for Providence Heights, Flankers project at the Prime Minister's Office in Montego Bay. Looking on is water and housing minister Dr Horace Chang. (Photo: Horace Hines)

MONTEGO BAY, St James

Water and housing minister Dr Horace Chang last week signed a contract worth nearly $147M, for the undertaking of major infrastructural work in the informal settlement of Providence Heights section of Flanker.

Construction firm, Astrom Building Systems Jamaica Limited won the multi-million contract for the project which will be piloted by the state run National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC).
The work includes:

. Construction of road leading from Rose Hall main road through Flanker

. Laying of water mains along the roads

. Laying of sewer mains along all roads and footpaths to be constructed and;

. Construction of drainage systems.

The infrastructural upgrade which will get under way later this month is expected to benefit over 1,100 households after the scheduled nine-month completion date.
The water and housing minister, who is also the parliamentary representative for the North West St James constituency where the inner-city project falls, noted that the NHDC was undertaking the first major contract to upgrade an informal settlement since the new administration was formed last year September.

In the meantime, the housing minister also signalled that it is an "opportune time for NHDC to publicly state the vision and direction of the corporation".

The Flankers project forms part of the water and housing ministry's mission "to revamp the NHDC".

" Nothing is wrong with the name in itself but once you get associated with NHDC people feel NHDC is coming in to give away government money, the people in the community get the feeling it is government work and they don't have to pay for the property, there are a lot of negatives. We have to rebrand the product," Dr Chang pointed out. "The NHDC has had some negative feedback in the last couple of years largely because they avoided the procurement process and while it could have been done with good reason to speed up the process, the ability to bypass the procurement process led to a number of abuses".

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