Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis yesterday defended his government’s plan to develop a new subdivision in western New Providence geared toward young professionals, hailing it as a means of empowering Bahamians.
Minnis made the comments during debate on a resolution to allow for the development of a residential community in western New Providence geared toward young professionals, and the transfer of said land from the treasurer to the government for the sum of $10.
The resolution was passed in the House last night shortly after 10 p.m.
Minnis touted new details about the community, including the construction of a pre-school, a savings on architectural fees and also protecting the ecology of the area.
The community will be comprised of 83 acres of land, located north of John F. Kennedy Drive, between Prospect Ridge and the Ministry of Public Works and will feature a clubhouse, pool, parks and a preschool.
Minnis said there will be roughly 250 lots. Forty percent of the lots will be multi-family, available for purchase at $50,000, and 60 percent of the lots will be single-family, sold for $40,000.
He said the lots will be worth $150,000 once the infrastructure is in place.
“We consider a professional as someone who is accomplished in his or her field, sufficient independently to sustain a mortgage or the financial responsibility for a residential dwelling in the community,” he said.
“This community is not restricted to a particular type of academic or professional training.
“You don’t have to be a lawyer, doctor or engineer to qualify. To be eligible, you must be a Bahamian, 45 years or younger, who is a resident in The Bahamas.
“Even though this subdivision is in New Providence, Family Island residents are eligible to apply. Applications are to be made by individuals or married couples.
“Two or more people may also apply. However, financial institutions will assess the risk determination of such applications. Only first-time homeowners are eligible.
“The first-time homeowner’s status will be confirmed with the Registrar General’s Department and the Department of Inland Revenue.
“An applicant may only be eligible once and may only acquire one property in any such government home owning initiative. The application and application process are being finalized as are other details.
“It is anticipated the application process will open to the public this summer.”
Minnis said the government will also waive customs duty on all building materials and appliances for homes within the community.
Minnis assured that the application process will be transparent and objective.
He said banks are “anxious” to lend money to young Bahamians who apply.
“The committee has already spoken with a number of banks, Mr. Speaker, who are anxious to come onboard and provisionally, they have stated that individuals would not have to come up with any down payment, which is one of the greatest obstacles to home construction,” he said.
“And that will be possible because the equity would be so large.
“And Mr. Speaker, banks that we have not spoken to, those other banks have called and stated that they, too, would like to be a part of this program.”
The prime minister noted that no applications have been accepted for the community as yet.
“No list of persons has been established for this community,” he said.
“Guiding principles for the application process have been established. It will be transparent. It will be digital.
“The Department of Transformation and Digitization has confirmed that it will prioritize making the application and submission of supporting documents possible online.
“There will be strict adherence to the eligibility criteria. There will be no favoritism. No special group or special people will be prioritized.”
Minnis noted that the land in the area will not be filled, excavated or compacted.
“What is most significant here is that we have done surveys of the land and there are some areas of the land that are low lying,” he said.
“Those areas…the land there is at least three foot below level. There will be no filling and no excavation, no compaction. We will utilize the ecology of the environment and it can be used as runoff to ensure no flooding.
“All those areas that are low in the area will be utilized accordingly.”
He continued, “In addition to this massive savings, an additional saving, Mr. Speaker, there will be at least 10 architectural designs that individuals can select one of the 10 for their homes.
“Plus, they will not be subjected to the additional architectural fees that we see today.
“The average home in such area would be about $250,000 to $300,000, which means that the architectural fees for such facility to that individual would be about $30,000, but under this program, they would only have to purchase one plan for $1,000. That’s an additional saving of $29,000.”
Electioneering
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader Chester Cooper yesterday called the development nothing more than electioneering.
He said he doubts banks will readily lend money to people without a down payment.
“It does not matter how much the property is worth, particularly with banks already being liquid and already being saddled with foreclosed homes and unfinished homes,” he said.
Cooper maintained that while the PLP believes in affordable housing and housing security, Minnis’ plan is “unfair, elitist and discriminatory”.
“We do not think it’s a rational, credible policy,” he said.
“It’s electioneering, so let’s just call it for what it is.
“I believe it is unrealistic and fraught with problems.”
Cooper continued: “This is clearly an effort to appeal to the largest voting bloc in the country, without actually doing something broadly impactful for the largest voting bloc in the country.
“It is using what will clearly be millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to implement a program that is exclusionary, discriminatory, elitist, unfair and fantastical.
“…It is exclusionary in that it automatically and intentionally boxes out of eligibility those who are over the age of 45 from participation, and also uses taxpayer funds drawn from the widest pool of Bahamians to make an exclusive community for a certain number of Bahamians to create income-producing properties that will only benefit a few.”
Cooper described the plan as “an affront to those Bahamians from inner cities who dream of homeownership”.
“It is elitist in that it takes the VAT money from the single mother in Bain Town who is making minimum wage to build infrastructure, including a community center and swimming pool, in a gated community in western New Providence for those above a certain income level,” he said.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/pm-touts-land-initiative/
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