‘Not the full picture’: Gov’t rejects Opposition ‘robbery’ claims over hurricane housing costs

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development is pushing back against criticism from the Opposition over the cost associated with the installation of semi-permanent housing units for Hurricane Melissa victims in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, arguing that the figures being cited do not reflect the full scope of the project. Speaking at the People’s National Party annual conference on Sunday, the part’s general secretary Dr Dayton Campbell accused the Government of carrying out “robbery in plain sight” in relation to the costing of the project. Campbell, who is the Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Eastern, said a team that includes him and his councilors “put up over 40 homes in Eastern Westmoreland” and, every base he and his team erected, were done at a cost between $60,000 and $80,000.

READ: ‘Daylight robbery’ Pointing to the $1 billion value of the government contract to mount the semi-permanent houses, and the fact that the National Housing Trust had already procured the container homes, Campbell argued that it meant that the government was “going to spend $3.7 million to build a foundation to put a container house on.” However, in a release on Tuesday, the ministry noted that while it welcomes public scrutiny of the recovery programme, “it is important that a discussion of the associated costs reflect the full scope of what is being procured and delivered, rather than characterising a comprehensive site-development, servicing and housing-installation package simply as the cost of ‘building a base’.” It said the suggestion that the Government is spending approximately $3.7 million merely to construct a concrete “base” or “foundation” for each housing unit does not accurately reflect the scope of the contracted works. “The intervention provides for a comprehensive package of site development, structural, plumbing, sanitation and installation works required to establish a safe and functional housing site,” the ministry said. According to the ministry, there are three distinct units, requiring distinct construction needs.

Depending on the type of unit and the specific requirements of each site, the works include site preparation and excavation; reinforced concrete foundations and footings; structural anchoring systems; entrance and exit steps; plumbing and sanitary connections; solar generator/electrical works; bathroom and kitchenett…