$18.5 million from Venezuela to be used for housing…
The issue is still tied up in the courts–the millions of dollars from the government of Venezuela to the government of Belize gifted in December, 2007. But this afternoon the government announced how the twenty million dollars it got from the Belize Bank back in August will be dispersed, as to when, it is still not known. And even though the U.D.P. government and the Belize Bank are in arbitration over the money, G.O.B. says it will go ahead and spend the money on housing. The figure to be dispersed, however, is now eighteen point five million dollars as one point five million was used by NEMO for rehabilitation after the widespread flooding caused by tropical depression sixteen in October of last year. The remaining funds will be split equally amongst the thirty-one constituencies at just under six hundred thousand dollars each. G.O.B. says that to ensure transparency and accountability, the constituencies will be divided into four regions, with each having a six-member oversight committee responsible for vetting and approving applications and monitoring projects; although the application will be carried out through the area representative from both political parties. According to C.E.O. in the Ministry of Housing, Rosalie Gentle, the money is for the poorest of the poor, so those making over twenty thousand dollars need not apply and neither should those who received grants in the first round of dispersal before last year’s general election. And for those who do qualify for the grants, they have to meet certain criteria.
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
“This will not be free for all. This will go according to the rules set out by our government in conjunction with the Venezuelans. No money will be handed into anybody’s hands like weh dehn mi do before di election—yoh get four hundred and five hundred—this is not that at all. You will get help in accordance if you are qualified and in accordance with the help you so need and the help that you so need will be monitored before and will be monitored after.”
Rosalie Gentle, CEO, Ministry of Housing
“In an effort to target the most needed, cabinet has signed off on the following eligibility criteria. In order to qualify for a home improvement grant, applicants must own a house and not earn more than twenty thousand per annum. In order to qualify for a new house, an applicant must not own a house or is mortgaging a house and not earn more than fifteen thousand per annum. These per annum salaries is indicative of government’s intention to target the poorest of the poor. Application forms will be distributed through the various area representatives. All application forms must be properly filled out with attaching estimates and submitted to the ministry of housing through the area representative. Applications will be sorted at the ministry level and then submitted to the various oversight committees. So all applications will go into the ministry and the ministry will then separate them into four regions. The ministry, after the applications have been approved will be processed. However, this is where monitoring starts. The ministry personnel will be required to take a picture of the house before it is repaired. So applicants are advised to take note that if you should benefit from this project, a picture of your house before the repairs and a picture after the repairs will have to be obtained by the ministry personnel. This is for accountability purposes since a file will be opened for each applicant.”
Michael Finnegan
“The new homes, we will not go beyond thirty thousand dollars and for repairs of homes we will not go beyond ten thousand dollars. I want to assure our colleagues from the other side of the floor in the national assembly that it is the practice of this government to make sure that they are treated like representatives and to make sure that the people they represent benefit from this process also. In terms of those who benefited before, there are records at the ministry and we will make sure, obviously, that they don’t benefit from it again.”
Sitting on the committees will be a representative from the Ministry of Housing for the central region and for other regions, a rep from the Ministry of Works; a representative from the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, one from Chamber of Commerce, another from the Ministry of Human Development, and two area representatives. Gentle says they are waiting for the Chamber and the N.T.U.C.B. to name their representatives and they will then be ready to get the ball rolling and start the application process.
For those poorest of the poor who previously received loans from the Housing Department and are having trouble paying it back, Finnegan says that he has submitted a paper to Cabinet requesting that they be written off. That amount comes up to about ten million dollars.
