By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie said his government is still committed to its once failed mortgage relief programme, revealing yesterday that he received a major communication from a clearing bank that puts his administration at “a major stage” in the initiative.
Mr Christie told parliamentarians that he will reveal more on the programme when he closes out the 2014/2015 budget debate on Thursday.
The initiative was one of this administration’s underperforming programmes with Mr Christie admitting in 2013 that only four or five homeowners were expected to receive assistance through the plan.
“In previous interventions, I have indicated that the government remains very much focused on a mortgage relief programme which turned out to be more complicated than both the banks and ourselves imagined,” Mr Christie said yesterday.
“Just to give the leader of the opposition an indication of where we are, last night (Tuesday) I had delivered to me from one of the major clearing banks a communication which takes us to a major stage. When I speak (today) in respect of mortgage relief (I will say more). We had been waiting on it.
“I just want the country to know that this is a matter that is continuing.”
Mr Christie’s comments came after he stood on a point of order to respond to opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis’ criticisms of the government’s failure to successfully roll out the programme.
When the PLP’s mortgage relief plan was officially introduced in September 2012, there were an estimated 4,000 home-owners in mortgage payment arrears. That year, State Finance Minister Michael Halkitis said that around 1,000 would likely qualify for assistance under the plan.
As a result, the government later announced that $10 million would be allocated to the plan, which was a major 2012 election campaign promise and listed in the PLP’s Charter for Governance.
Dr Minnis said the fact that the promised relief to homeowners never came represented a “colossal failure”.
He said should the Free National Movement assume office following the next general election, the government will pass and bring into force legislation to protect homeowners.
Dr Minnis said: “Today we still do not have in place laws to protect homeowners and their equity in their mortgaged property should they fall on hard times.
“The mortgage relief programme which the PLP government promised to put in place has been a total failure. This PLP government operates with no shame. Every year, budget after budget, the PLP claims that this will be the year for a successful launch of their Mortgage Relief, but every year they have failed to deliver.”
Dr Minnis continued: “They blame the banks, but the truth is they have failed to develop a sound bankable mortgage relief plan. Meanwhile thousands of Bahamians who pinned their hopes on saving their homes on the PLP assurances have been disappointed and some left homeless as their homes were sold.
“While the PLP brags about their relief plan, the newspapers continue to be littered with distressed properties being advertised for sale. The PLP has failed them. The PLP Mortgage Relief was a fiasco from its conception.”
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
Mr. Christie, by virtue of the shenanigans at Bank of The Bahamas ("BOB") that have greatly benefited certain of your political friends and business cronies, and the related moral hazard situation you have created in the form of Bahamas Resolve, you have effectively implemented by fine example a most successful mortgage relief program given that many Bahamians no longer feel obligated to struggle making the mortgage payments they were previously making to their bank or insurance company. Geez, how I hate being too cynical.....but unfortunately there's some truth to my cynicism here!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
WORTH REPEATING: Insecure and incompetent political leaders like Perry Christie now (and Hubert Ingraham previously) typically must resort to holding themselves out to be a present day Robin Hood to the needy because of their failed social and economic policies. But the fold of needy Bahamians (and illegal immigrants) who cannot stand on their own two feet as a result of the government's failed policies is an ever growing one whereas the pool of self-sufficient and self-reliant Bahamians is now an ever shrinking one. Therein lies the real rub; Robin Hood and his merry men are finding it increasingly difficult to find the "haves" to rob in order to give to the "have nots" (quite often including themselves) where the so called "haves" are not political friends and business cronies that Robin Hood and his merry men do not wish to rob, or, for fear of life, cannot rob. Christie and his merry men must feel very boxed in these days and the 'illegal' web shop owners and their front men (like Flowers and Bastian) are no doubt becoming fearful they may be the only ones left to be robbed in a big way at the end of the day.
Reality_Check 9 years, 4 months ago
Quite a bit of truth here unfortunately. Instead of creating decent paying jobs, the Christie-led PLP government's failed social and economic policies have in fact resulted in the failure or downsizing of many local businesses. The marked contraction or shrinkage in the employment of Bahamians by our domestic private sector work force has greatly exacerbated the over-crowding effect on our economy of our non-productive and inefficient bloated public sector work force. Robin Hood (Christie) and his merry bandits have no inkling of the greater harm being caused to our economy by their continued efforts to buy votes using an ever dwindling supply of taxpayers' dollars. Another 5,000 plus new graduating students are about to join the ranks of all those for whom jobs are not available in the private sector. The creation of additional unnecessary, non-productive and/or inefficient public sector jobs, combined with public sector handouts, cannot continue without irreparably crushing our economy and ripping apart its social fabric.
ohdrap4 9 years, 4 months ago
In this recent article, we read that then plan , in fact, did not fail. It achieved the goal of people living mortgage-free up to 5 years. that was the goal.
Just watch the condition of those homes after 5 years, and further more i will be taxed for this.
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/jun…
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