New housing for Pickstock
Pictures of politicians handing over houses may have become a common sight, but the happiness of new homeowners is nonetheless genuine. This time around the people with a new address come from the Pickstock Division where today, aspiring politician Godfrey Smith presented the keys to new houses to four constituents. According to Smith, like many other residents of the city, those in this area badly need better shelter.
Godfrey Smith, PUP Standard Bearer, Pickstock
“The project started some time in March of this year and obviously the thrust is to try to make it as affordable as possible. So what you’re looking at it our attempt at providing low or affordable income housing for the people of the division. These four houses that you’re looking at will cost each homeowner twenty-five thousand dollars. It would have been even cheaper, but obviously we’re entering a neighbourhood, we don’t just want to come and impose ourselves, so we want to put something neat. As you can see, we’ve gone the extra mile to put a nice white picket fence. We’ve also put some concrete walkways. The ground had to take a lot of filling and obviously we wanted to put it some eight feet up for flooding purposes as well as to address the fact that there are many people who said that they would want to make an addition underneath afterwards. So with all those various additions it comes up to twenty-five thousand with the land.”
Janelle Chanona
“Switching gears slightly, on the political scene one of your party colleagues has resigned from his post as minister and indicated that he won’t be running again in 2003. What’s happening inside the party and what are you telling your constituents as far as getting them to still stand behind you?”
Godfrey Smith
“I haven’t personally experienced any difficulty in going house to house in the Pickstock Division in terms of any perception that there’s a problem. Certainly, questions are asked and I can do no more than offer the explanations that Henry, my colleague and friend, has offered. Which is that he feels that at this time the industry from which he came and for personal and other reasons requires him to go back and he feel that it’s the right time to do that. So all I can do is represent to the voters of Pickstock as it is represented to me by my colleagues.”
Janelle Chanona
“So you’re going on record saying the PUP is in good shape?”
Godfrey Smith
“Well it is in good shape.”
The new homeowners on Pickstock Street are Josephine Flowers, Maria Chan, Albert Crawford and Neilsford Gamboa.
