Thread by @MarkJGolding

Jamaica nice, but not for everybody.
Low-income communities in Jamaica suffer from poor infrastructure, and lack the basic amenities for decent, modern living. These adverse living conditions contribute to negative social behaviours, and re-enforce inter-generational poverty.

In building the Jamaican Dream, these communities can no longer have second class status when it comes to basic amenities like street lighting, garbage disposal and water/sewage infrastructure. #BudgetDebate2022

We all know that adverse living conditions and social neglect are part of why youth turn to badness and the gun. Investing in these communities will support our strategy to reduce violent crime in our country.
#BudgetDebate2022

Much of the housing stock in low-income communities are not fit for decent and comfortable living.
For many, it nuh nice at all. Many who live in these substandard conditions are single mothers and the elderly.
#BudgetDebate2022

16-year old Laquanya Brown lives in a yard which houses many families. It has only one bathroom, that is barely functioning. When she bathes, she is not safe from those who would want to trouble her. She hates the conditions in which she lives, but she has no choice.

81-year old Aunty Pauline’s old roof leaks so badly, she had to move into a room with just some zinc and no protection from the rain and cold.
It nuh right. We must fix this. Our people deserve better.
#BudgetDebate2022

We have to give our people a sense of dignity, achievement & progress, so that they can feel a part of building the Jamaican Dream. The next PNP Govt will work with the people within these communities to transform them, by investing in their basic infrastructure and amenities.

The next PNP Government will also implement a programme, OPERATION SHELTER, for people who are living in deplorable housing conditions. We will empower these citizens to renovate and upgrade the dilapidated housing stock, in inner city and rural communities.
#BudgetDebate2022

We will provide resources to help them fix leaking roofs, restore crumbling walls and rotten floors. If they don’t have a bathroom, we will help them to build one.
#BudgetDebate2022

We will do this by assisting them with the purchase of materials, while they make their own arrangements with tradesmen and labour from within their communities.
This will also stimulate the local economy in these communities. #BudgetDebate2022

Local tradesmen, labourers and hardware merchants will benefit from the investment that the residents make in upgrading their homes.
#BudgetDebate2022

We will revamp and expand the Urban Renewal legislation, to attract investors to establish businesses in these communities, right where so many of their customers live.
#BudgetDebate2022

We will also find a way to build more affordable housing.
Jamaica’s boom in real estate development has left out those who can only afford to start small. #BudgetDebate2022

The Government must be the architect of creative policies that incentivize developers to provide low-income housing for this chronically underserved segment of the market. #BudgetDebate2022

Some recent efforts by the National Housing Trust (NHT) have been mentioned, but much more needs to be done. We will incentivize developers to invest in building affordable housing for low-income earners. #BudgetDebate2022

It will take a strategic approach by Government, in collaboration with the private sector and the NHT. We will also restore the NHT to the purpose for which Michael Manley gave it to the people of Jamaica. #BudgetDebate2022

The next PNP Government will implement changes to ensure that the National Housing Trust refocuses on its core mandate of delivering housing solutions to those Jamaicans who cannot otherwise buy or build houses.
#BudgetDebate2022

This is the purpose why Prime Minister Michael Manley established that great institution in 1975.
#BudgetDebate2022