JLP councillor defends FFP on housing quality
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) politician has backed charity organisation Food For The Poor (FFP) on the quality of housing it provides.
Councillor for the Chancery Hall Division in North West St Andrew, Duane Smith, said his experience with the houses provided by the organisation has been completely different from what was described at a meeting of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee of Parliament yesterday.During the meeting, some members of Parliament criticised the quality of the wooden houses being built under the Government’s Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme. However, Smith told OBSERVER ONLINE that the only problem he has is that he is unable get more houses for people in his political division.He said: “One MP said it is too expensive, another MP mentioned termites and the quality of the product not being good. All I have to say regarding the issue is that my experience has been completely different.“I don’t say what they are saying is not true, everybody has their own experience but my experience with Food For The Poor is excellent, my only problem with FFP is that I can’t get more houses”. The councillor noted that to date, he has only received one complaint from individuals who have benefitted from housing in North West St Andrew.“What I am hearing (from MPs) is shocking to me”, he said explaining that in North West St Andrew there are quite a few FFP houses and the only complaint is that there are persons on the waiting list to get some more.MPs, during the committee meeting yesterday, said that they were not seeking to discredit FFP, but they were concerned about value for money, especially with the proposed US$800 increase being requested by the organisation.This would move the cost per unit from US$6,800 to US$7,200, half of which the Government bears. Meanwhile, Chairman FFP, Andrew Mahfood has since come out in defence of the quality of the houses the charity organisation is providing to destitute Jamaicans under its five-year joint agreement with the Jamaican Government , which ends in August.