National Alliance (NA) Island Councilman Frans Richardson wants the points systems used to allocate units in Belvedere and the mobile homes removed or reviewed. He made this call after receiving numerous comments from people registered and waiting for units.
"It is all well and good that the good Commissioner of Housing Theo Heyliger is building about 70 new apartments in Hope Estate, but I hope people on the waiting list who have been registered for a long time can get a unit and they are not all given out already," Richardson said.
Six units in Belvedere were repaired recently and allocated to people with most urgent needs, based on the points system used by St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF). The system rates the social needs of an applicant based on current living conditions, income and size of the family, among other things.
Richardson said he was not sure how the system worked and whether it was effective. While he understood that the waiting list for a unit was long, he said something needed to be done quickly to provide more public housing for the island’s people.
Housing Foundation Director Michael Fowler has confirmed that six units were under repair and families with the "most urgent" need for public housing would be moving into two of them this week.
The foundation’s waiting list has had some 1,000 people. In an effort to streamline the list, all applicants have been sent letters asking them to update their information and state whether they are still in need of a house. "Situations change and an applicant from six months ago could have already found a suitable place, so we need to get the list evaluated," Fowler said.
He acknowledged that there was a severe shortage of public housing to cater to the heavy demand for affordable accommodations.
The first phase of the Hope Estate project was slated for completion in December. Of the 70 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 10 have been earmarked for senior citizens and another 10 for special-needs individuals.
The next phase of the project entails some 100 units and will get started as soon as funding has been secured. The land for Phases III and IV will be bought in the coming weeks.