Min. Croal meets Regions Five, Six housing officers

Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal met newly appointed Regional Housing Officers in Regions Five and Six during an outreach there Tuesday.

The Minister visited the regional housing offices in Fort Wellington, Region Five and New Amsterdam, Region Six respectively, to get a first-hand look at the operations there. He also engaged the officers on plans to upgrade the offices.

Minister Croal said there have been complaints about the cramped office space at the Fort Wellington office. He said the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) has given the Ministry permission to expand the office located in its compound. The general aesthetics of the office will also be upgraded to ensure it is fully operational.

“There is a shed area behind where the office is and so we will be able to extend to allow the staff to have much more comfort…

We need the space to operate. We need to make the staff comfortable to operate and in light of Covid, they need to be spaced out because of social distancing,” Minister Croal told DPI.

Meanwhile, the New Amsterdam housing office benefited from a facelift by the RDC following the intervention by Minister Croal. The Minister commended the RDC for its proactive approach to ensure its staff is comfortable.

“We will be improving the Region Six office in terms of allowing the department to be independent. Currently, the Region still collaborates with the Ministry to conduct any financial transactions.

They will now move to an independent operation in terms of having their own cashier,” he said.

The appointment of the Regional Housing Officer and the upgrading of regional housing offices are part of the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s plans to decentralise its services.