New homes, same struggles

Ellinor White is particularly grateful for the home she received under the Government’s New Social Housing Programme (NSHP).

However, just a month after moving in, she is facing new challenges: blocked sewage drains and manholes that sometimes overflow in her yard, with the waste washing up on the doorsteps of her newly built home in Jones Town, St Andrew.

White quickly admits that Beresford Street, like many other parts of Jones Town, struggles with sewage drainage issues, leading to occasional overflows. But for her, the problem has come home – literally.

As she peeled back the covers of three manholes that surrounded her new home, White revealed a pool of foul sewage, bubbling inches from her fingers. She winced, holding her nose with her elbow as she explained how the stench has overshadowed the joy of moving into her new home.

She thanked the Government for the well-needed home, which has made life more liveable, but in the same breath, she called for assistance to have the sewage removed or “pulled” – an undertaking she said would cost $12,000. This is money neither she nor her three daughters, who also occupy the premises, have, White said, disclosing that she is unemployed and heavily reliant on handouts from relatives.

“It is just unbearable. When you use the bathroom and the toilet, everything just comes right up. I am sure that it was cleared. When the house was being built, I thought it would run freely, but it is not two months since I moved in and this is how it is,” a distressed White told The Sunday Gleaner.

For weeks, she and her daughters have bathed outside to reduce the amount of water entering the clogged drainage system. Her daily routine includes using a rod to try to clear the manhole nearest to the front of her yard. Sometimes it works, but most times it does not, she said.

“That (manhole) is supposed to lead out to the road ... . I am stressed. It is bothering me real bad,” White said.

“I have asthma. I have trouble with high blood pressure ... . A day’s work I usually do, but nobody doesn’t call anyone to work these days because everybody has their [washing] machine,” she said, explaining her financial situation.

“Things are very slow. The fat one (daughter) that you see there, her foot broken. This one (daughter) going back to HEART, and the other one ... has two children. I just have to go do little begging, if it is even a two grand here and a two grand there. I am willing to work. I have five subjects; I’m not that dunce, but nobody is going to employ me now,” said the middle-aged woman.

White said she is willing to do babysitting or to take care of the elderly, “but as you can see nothing is coming and it is a struggle, especially like how she is going back to HEART”.

In nearby Hopeful Village, Arnett Gardens, other NSHP recipients, like Thia Jones, have made modifications to their homes to better suit their needs.

Jones and her neighbour, who also received a NSHP home, have shortened the length of their windows – which originally went all the way down to theie beds – fearing the more open layout could expose them during shootouts, a frequent occurrence in the area.

“The community is nice, but when the war is going on, it is something different. No war is going on right now, but the place is still tense same way. Everywhere down here, war is going on, but you just have to make sure, you know, that you don’t mix,” Jones told The Sunday Gleaner. “But the house them up to date. I see a few little cracks, but that is the least. I am grateful and we are taking care of them.”

Further east, in Shooter’s Hill, Bull Bay, Kimesha Francis, one of the first NSHP recipients in 2018, has also maintained her home, repainting it and growing a lush garden at the front of the premises.

“The house a get take care of, man. You can go right ‘round and look. The place is good,” said her mother, Sandra.

Their praise for the programme contrasts with recent criticism from Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis, who, in her department’s recently tabled annual report, flagged NSHP for offering duplicated services. The report highlighted a need for reform, identifying six similar projects, including NSHP.

Last week, The Sunday Gleaner outlined the struggles of some Central Kingston residents whose promised homes have been repeatedly stalled. One family has been living without bathrooms for over a year, while another potential recipient was told not to move in until the official handover.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, which oversees the project, explained that the construction was delayed due to the inability of the contractor to implement the project according to schedule.

That contract was terminated on December 30, 2024, due to non-performance, the ministry said, adding that it is currently re-engaging the procurement process for another with a goal of completing the project by the end of February.

While handing over another NSHP house in St James last Friday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said the Government is not to blame for contractor tardiness.

“The Government of Jamaica does not itself build houses. It would not itself set out not to finish the houses as quickly as possible. That would not be in our interest,” he said. “The Government of Jamaica has set rules about contracts, and we hire contractors on a competitive basis. There is no guarantee that having entered into a contract for the construction of a house the contractors will deliver on time. Generally, contractors have delivered on a timely basis in this programme.”

“Sometimes contractors would have taken up the project and the terrain is so challenging that they are not able to complete it. So location and terrain is a major issue for this programme,” he said, adding that some works, particularly in volatile communities, have also stalled due to building material being stolen from work sites.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com