The Housing Ministry says it is moving to address years of neglect at the Maloney Gardens Housing Development Corporation community by resolving outstanding contractual issues and improving living conditions.
The announcement came during a visit by Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Phillip Alexander, who assured residents that measures to address their concerns would begin in the coming week.
During a walkabout in the community on Friday, he revealed ongoing investigations into the management of HDC contracts.
“Four buildings were painted out of how many, 21? So and he said and others have said that there was some naked politics with that. We’re going to find out what’s going on. At the end of the day, we have a lot of tenants here that need to have a proper living accommodation. We’re trying to bring the outstanding rentals up to date. We have a lot of people who, we have some outstanding rents and things to collect up here. The $350 a month rent, they’ve been remiss in their payments.”
The Minister questioned the deteriorating condition of HDC communities, saying years of neglect must be accounted for and should not be ignored.
“There has to be an accounting for the condition of these communities. Somebody is responsible for this. He cannot say to me standing here that the madness that I am seeing walking here together with all of you, that was responsible by the last administration. You cannot say put that under the rug and move on. This is what we have seen throughout the entire country.”
Acknowledging residents’ frustration over the pace of repairs, the Minister said the HDC is working to restore neglected communities, resolve outstanding tenant and purchase contract issues, and improve living conditions.
“We’ve seen the abandonment of what people had to live with. The HDC entered into the contracts with people, tenant contracts, purchase contracts and abandoned them. We are trying to fix all of it. Again, I understand the frustration of the gentleman on how he wants to get things done and how fast he wants to see things done. We are not responsible for the past. We are responsible for where we find ourselves today going forward.”
The visit forms part of the Ministry’s ongoing assessment of HDC communities as it works to tackle maintenance issues and improve services for residents.