Housing to vulnerable : Several upcoming projects to enhance quality of life

The Government has at heart the well-being of its citizens and conforming to this, the Ministry of Housing and Lands is working towards improving the living conditions of those who are socially disadvantaged. This in turn will help attaining development goals to scale up economic growth.

The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Lands, Mr Showkutally Soodhun, made this statement yesterday during a press conference held at Le Sirius, Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel in Port-Louis.

Vice-Prime Minister Soodhun highlighted his Ministry’s key achievements for the last two years and outlined major projects in the pipeline for 2018-2020. He emphasised that Government has made the welfare of the population a priority by improving the quality of life of all citizens, and in particular uplifting the status of the economically vulnerable population.

Hence the need, pointed out Mr Soodhun, to bring forth a series of innovative measures in order to address key priorities such as an increase in the supply of housing units and home ownership for the economically and socially disadvantaged.

He pointed out that newly built housing units under the Smart Residence project of the National Housing Development Company (NHDC), ranging from 50 m² to 60 m² and comprising of two bedrooms, have been constructed to enable families to live decently with the necessary amenities  as well as social and recreational facilities. In this regard, the eligibility criteria for the NHDC housing has been extended to those earning Rs 20,000, so as to ensure that more families can benefit from this scheme, he added.

On that note, Vice-Prime Minister Soodhun announced that a total of 11 206 housing units will be built by 2020 to the tune of Rs 17.2 billion. He underlined that  from January 2015  to September 2017, 1,063 housing units on 35 sites at the cost Rs 1.1 billion have been built. Currently, 1,520 housing units on 26 sites are being constructed and are expected to be completed in 2018. As for 2018-2019, the construction of 2 173 housing units on 16 sites at the cost of Rs 3.5 billion is in the pipeline.

Moreover, he emphasised that the project Longères Tôle at Baie du Tombeau aims to address the alarming situation of families living in deplorable conditions. To this end, Government is investing in the construction of 150 concrete housing units with the necessary amenities at the cost of Rs 225 millions.