Contracts for major housing projects to be signed early November
—Minister Croal to engage contractors on way forward
—land preparations to commence over next 2 months
—LED light installations streamlined
Projects under the belt of the Ministry of Housing and Water, for 2020 capital and current projects are moving ahead.
Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal on Friday told DPI that he was satisfied with the progress to date.
“I am happy to say that all of our projects were tendered. […] All of our capital projects slated for this year under the housing programme, those evaluations are to be completed for the award next week, and we’ll have the contract signing within the first week of November,” heindicated.
The contracts are all expected to be signed at a single event as the Minister intends to charge the awardees with meeting the Ministry’s expectations.
“There are some bottlenecks I see in the system that I want to address with any new contractors that are coming on board to engage the Ministry and Central Housing and Planning Authority because we take our timelines seriously and we have strengthened our Monitoring Department for the execution of projects,” the Minister stated.
Concerning the development of new housing areas catered for in the 2020 budget, Minister Croal said the first phase development is on the calendar.
“This initial phase for the two months left in the year is intended for land preparation; that is the clearing for a number of land area and the construction of the main access bridges,” he explained.
“This will allow the opening up of a number of areas in our first quarter, to continue the programme for the construction of a number of streets and then those [investors] can commence construction [on housing units],” Minister Croal added.
For development in existing areas, the Minister said those communities would continue to see the installation of LED street lights to promote safer neighbourhoods.
These moves come just under one month since the passage of the 2020 Emergency Budget. They include the provision of potable water and the necessary works for road upgrades in existing housing areas, as well as land acquisition to undertake new housing projects.