Scaife clears air on housing project

The Chairman of Home Ownership Providing Energy (HOPE) Incorporated has cleared the air over the stalled housing project in Pool, St. John.

He notes that the project is very much still in motion but it has been impacted by a legal issue.

In a statement, Chairman of HOPE Incorporated Colin Scaife explains that the formal passage of legal title of the Pool Lands to the Government of Barbados – a process arising out of the Clico collapse – is still unexpectedly incomplete years after the transfer was initiated.

Without legal title to the land, he says work has of necessity been temporarily halted at Pool.

In the interim, he says optimal use of resources dictates a shift in focus to where the greatest impact will be made – that is, HOPE’s other sites such as Lancaster, Clifden and Colleton.

He says Pool, in the interim, was assessed by an independent civil and structural engineering firm, Mahy, Ridley, hazard as to what measures were required to maintain the integrity of the materials and site during the pause in works.

All the recommendations put forward in their report to HOPE Inc. were adopted, and periodic debushing, a key part of this process, has been affected by heavy rains and will resume.

The chairman adds the benefit of the reallocation and concentration of resources is that the first keys to homes at Lancaster are expected to begin to be handed over by HOPE Inc. to buyers this month.

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