Thursday, October 19, 2006

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada: Getting free assistance from the Grenada government’s building material distribution scheme will soon be a thing of the past.

This was announced by the Governor General Sir Daniel Williams in last Friday’s throne speech opening the fourth session of the seventh parliament.

Sir Daniel indicated that this scheme will be discontinued, making way for a new scheme, which will in turn save the government money as it seeks to cut back on wastage.

The new scheme will be part of the Prime Minister’s Ministry and will be converted into a loan scheme. Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell indicated that government has spent over $70m on housing through the grant scheme.

The new scheme will give Grenadians who cannot afford to rebuild their homes after hurricanes Ivan and Emily the opportunity to do so through the loan scheme. The scheme according to the Prime Minister will allow the beneficiaries to repay at a very low rate..

The government has built a number of houses around the country in the wake of Ivan and Emily through grants, government funding, donor agencies and other monetary organisations.

But the opposition National Democratic Congress is taking offence to this latest move by the government.

Opposition MP Kenrick Fullerton said the state of housing is still suffering from the effects of the two hurricanes. He indicated that some citizens are still in need of adequate housing and he is calling on the government to reconsider its decision to discontinue the material
distribution scheme.

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