Efforts to build low-income houses by two leading Christian dominations in Jamaica, the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) and the Anglican Diocese of Jamaica, were halted due to the reluctance of the developers to invest in low-income houses or to build on lands in rural areas.
In a report from the Gleaner, General Secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU), the Reverend Karl Johnson, and Anglican Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Howard Gregory told them that while they have no problem making church land available for housing projects, finding suitable partners to undertake these ventures has been a struggle.
"What we have been thinking and trying to map out a strategy for is how we can assist with improving the housing stock in the country in an orderly fashion," said Johnson. "It's something we want more collaboration on."
Johnson said that the JBU approached the National Housing Trust (NHT) for the possibility of the church making lands available for the building of houses but ever since then no word from the NHT were received by the JBU.
"I don't know if the Government has been proactive enough to reach out to all potential stakeholders to say, 'can we use their land?'" said Johnson. "With the opening of these highways, you just don't know. We maintain a very open posture to aid development in a sustained and holistic manner."
According to Johnson, JBU have sold about seven acres of land in Hague, Trelawny, at beneath the market price to the Government to regularize the community for the benefit of the families that had established informal settlements on the land. The property was initially slated to be used by the church for the establishment of a secondary school.
According to the Jamaican Gleaner, unit sizes for the studios will range between 356 to 635 square feet and will be available for $9 million to $11.9 million once completed. The complex will be financed with church equity amounting to $90 million from the Diocese as well as loan funds from the Jamaica National Building Society.
