The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday toured the Ardastra Gardens Subdivision where 61 new government low-cost housing units are under construction.

Arawak Homes, which subcontracted the building project to an estimated 30 to 40 contractors, is managing the overall process.

The cost per unit is $150,00 to $160,000, officials said.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Christie said the completion of these new homes signifies a new model, public/private partnership that will be continued by the government.

Housing Minister Kenred Dorsett added that this agreement assists the government in meeting the significant demands for homes in The Bahamas with a view to driving down construction costs. He said persons who were traditionally turned down for housing because they could not financially qualify can now be accommodated.

In addition, this removes the risk of shoddy work and will allow homeowner to “choke the neck” of the developer.

Mr Christie said: “We are going to be making a massive, discernible, something you can see, touch and feel effort to stimulate the economy through public sector capital funding as well as using the private sector to really respond to the demand for homes out there.

“And so really the minister of housing will be encouraged by the government to really expand what is happening here using more contractors and using more developers who have the capacity to enter into a public/private partnerships in the way Arawak Homes has. Clearly Arawak Homes now has this down pat, right to the fine tune and I suspect that they will pick up another 100 homes in a hurry elsewhere or right here to make this happen.”

Arawak Homes president Franon Wilson said the government did not spend any taxpayer dollars up front as he touted the development’s state of the art anti-flooding mechanisms.

Mr Wilson said Arawak homes will be paid by the government in three phases, the first of these when the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation begins to assign the new units.

This includes a pond that will collect excess rainwater in a recreation area for residents of the subdivision.