Government eyeing prefab homes for the displaced

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development is looking to install prefabricated housing units in sections of the country to accommodate displaced persons, especially those who occupy school facilities following the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Addressing a press conference at Jamaica House yesterday, Desmond McKenzie, the portfolio minister, said an inspection of the prefabricated solutions will be conducted today and that various strategies are being crafted to reduce the number of persons who occupy shelters to facilitate the reopening of the educational institutions. He said the initiative will house persons who previously occupied the infirmaries in Trelawny and Westmoreland. The facilities were damaged during the passage of the category-five hurricane and resulted in the occupants relocating to schools.

"Later on, this afternoon (yesterday), we will be inspecting some prefabricated solutions that we intend to, over the next two weeks, instal in Trelawny, that will house the almost 130 persons which are required to occupy the infirmary," the minister said. He noted there was a similar situation in Westmoreland where one of the infirmary wings as well as a section of the drop-in facility were also destroyed.

"We are hoping by the end of this week, based on the various initiatives that we have been putting in place, that we will see a significant reduction in the number of shelters and the number of persons occupying the shelters," he said.

"We have already started to make those arrangements and those arrangements already have been bearing some fruits, because at least three shelters have been closed and those residents who occupy those facilities have gone back home or we have found alternative arrangements. Now, schools are expected to open, and we don't want to delay the opening of schools," the minister said.

He said that the Government will continue to provide support to the country's homeless population.

"We have seen the numbers increasing, but I want to assure the country that we have made provisions in the most critical parishes - St Elizabeth, Hanover, Westmoreland, and St James - to house the homeless population. We will be transferring a lot of the homeless to some of the new facilities that we are going to be putting down, and that will be done on a temporary basis," he said. He informed that the Social Development Commission has undertaken a survey of the homeless population.