Hon Robert Montague, Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job creation has announced that he will be providing oversight to the Housing, Land and Urban Renewal Portfolios.

During a meeting on Tuesday January 25, with Senior Directors and Heads of Agencies of the Ministry, the Minister also advised that Prime Minister Holness has given him responsibility for oversight for special national projects.  These include; Vernamfield Airport Development, JISCO Industrial Economic Zone and delivering on the government’s commitment to provide 70,000 affordable housing solutions .

“ As the new Minister with oversight responsibility, my mission will be as it was in my previous post – to better the lives of the citizens of Jamaica .To this end we will embark on Project SHELTER. ”

SHELTER ,which is an acronym for savings, housing, employment, land titling, training, economic recovery and repairs to home,  will see the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation placing added focus on skills training for more young people, particularly in areas that benefit construction.

“More certified, skilled workers is big on my list of priorities .There is a concern that the construction industry does not  have sufficient certified skilled employees in order to deliver on the government’s ambition for housing , infrastructure growth and urban renewal . We are facing a critical lack of skills in some key areas just as the economy is starting to pick back up and this Ministry in partnership with the HEART Trust/ HOPE Programme will lead the drive for a ‘skills to build strategy’ which is nationally promoted and locally delivered”,the Minister said

“Our Government made a commitment in 2020 to provide 70,000 affordable  housing solutions and issue 20,000 land titles to Jamaicans who have legitimate claims to land that they have occupied, cultivated and used for generations.  Over the next few months, we must identify low cost land to be used in our housing programme to take us one step closer to realizing the right to housing for more families in Jamaica” he added.

Minister Montague noted that the tasks ahead are enormous. “They range all the way from; (i) Passing amendments to the Real Estate Act and Rent Restriction Act, (ii) to tackling the root causes of squatting and displacement,(iii) to identifying low cost lands that can be used to provide more affordable housing solutions. However, am confident that we assembled the right team at the right time to drive this mission” Minister Montague continued.