AuG paints PM’s social housing programme as duplicated use of resources
Published:Wednesday | January 15, 2025 | 12:19 AM
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’ flagship housing initiative for poor Jamaicans is one of several flagged by Auditor General (AuG) Pamela Monroe Ellis for offering duplicated services in need of reform.
The New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) was established in 2018 by Holness, who is the minister of economic growth and job creation, as the housing component of the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment programme.
The programme is one of six identified by Monroe Ellis in her 64-page performance audit report on the management of the Government’s social benefit programme.
These are the poor relief programme and the Municipal Social Assistance Programme (MSAP), administered by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), a rehabilitation programme under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), the Social Housing Programme (SHP) and the NSHP managed by the MEGJC, and the Constituency Development Fund operated through the Office of the Prime Minister.
“We found that the various social programmes had similar objectives and overlapping functions, covering parts or the same areas of interest, with little or no coordination in the distribution of said benefits,” Monroe Ellis said in the report.
HOUSING-RELATED PROGRAMMES
She said, for example, that the distribution of housing-related benefits started with the poor relief programme under the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development (MLGCD).
The AuG said the Government subsequently developed the rehabilitation programme under the MLSS and the SHP under the MEGJC (formerly the Ministry of Housing).
“The poor relief housing and rehabilitation programmes administered by MLGCD and MLSS provide housing rental and home repair grants to individuals. Similarly, the Government introduced the Social Housing Programme, under the MEGJC and the Municipal Social Assistance Programme, under the MLGCD to provide home repair grants like the poor relief housing and rehabilitation programmes and housing units.
“Home repair grants are also provided through the Constituency Development Fund under the Office of the Prime Minister. Further, in 2019, the Government introduced the New Social Housing Programme, which offers housing units similar to the initial SHP. Of note, the SHP and the NSHP are concurrently administered by separate units within the MEGJC,” Monroe Ellis noted.
The NSHP, the last of the six to be established, was developed to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and disadvantaged population by providing quality, affordable and sustainable housing.
In mid 2024, Holness said over 300 units were expected to be built by year end.
Additionally, a total of 75 projects, or 242 units comprising 419 rooms, are expected to commence between now and the 2025-2026 financial year.
Of note, the AuG report stated that between 2018 and 2024, the social housing budget allocation totalled $677.7 million, while the NSHP was allocated $3.4 billion.
“This issue is seen as a longstanding challenge, which was even identified by the World Bank as far back as 2009 where they highlighted the problem of multiple uncoordinated programmes and insufficient targeting and coverage among the issues that affected the distribution of social benefits to the poor and most vulnerable,” Monroe Ellis said.