Minister of Housing Andrew John says he has “already compiled some files on the way certain things were done in the area with the contractors that I’m really, really not satisfied with”.
He was speaking about the repair of houses in his constituency, South Windward, following the impact of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024.
“For example, I think some persons … deliberately took on more than they know they could manage.
“So, for example, in some areas, one contractor may have up to 13 homes going. It doesn’t make any sense because he hasn’t been able to complete one,” John said on Boom FM.
He, however, pointed out that the contractor would receive a “a startup fund” for each home.
“And so, some of them collected the startup and they went ahead …
“So, you could understand how that is pushing the whole process further back. … I don’t really want to say it’s greed, but it’s a sense that people just use the opportunity because of the connections.”
He said that when a contractor takes on so many homes it is difficult for them to complete any, “because, obviously, you have more than you could manage on your plate…
“We have to justify to our people that the money these people are receiving is money that they work for. Because it doesn’t make any sense we go around, beat around the bush with this whole process, and it’s a simple, straightforward process.
“You take a job, you have agreed to complete the job, you do the job. So right now, we are doing one job at a time for a contractor.
“When you finish one, you move on to another one.”
John said that one woman in South Windward only needed her plumbing and electricity connected to move back into her home.
“But she’s out in a shelter. Come on! I had to get the key for the lady and say, ‘Go and occupy your home,” John said.
“Once she’s there, the demand is going to be for them to do the rest of it. If you keep waiting on them and waiting on them, they never finish.
“And that is an issue … that I am examining right now. The issue of the contract work that housing did, that is something that we are examining. We need to look at the contractors, because there are lot of things there,” he said.
John said he has been making a similar call for contractors to give keys to people in the Southern Grenadines.
He said that in Mayreau, there are about 10 houses that are nearing completion,
“What I have been asking now is for the contractors to try and give the people the keys, to encourage people to come back,” John said.
“Because I am of the impression now of the feeling that as long as the people are on island and the people are ready to go into the homes, we would be inspired, or the contractors would be inspired to finish the home so that the people could go in,” John said.
Speaking during the Estimates Debate on Jan. 29, John told Parliament that a review of the ministry found it to be “one of the most corrupt institutions” in St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the Unity Labour Party government, which was booted out of office on Nov. 27.
“Well, I think I might have used very strong words there, but it has a lot to do it the way the materials were distributed,” he said during his recent interview on Boom FM.
“First of all, because the government invests … millions of dollars each year to bring in material to assist in the housing, the Lives to Live Programme. … And they also have the self-help programme …”
The housing minister said some people had been assigned to distribute these materials.
“They had those persons who did assessment in the field, which I feel now is playing a critical role, and that’s why we have to get people who are serious about what we are doing.
“You have to go there and make sure the people who are asking for the material need them. … And not only need them, but that they are going to use them…”
However, the minister said the situation was such that “if you get down to the bottom of the whole thing, you call the police.
“So that was a process that was in place, but the process was not being well — I don’t know if it was not being supervised. I know it was being interfered with by the politicians at the time, because they were the ones really driving that issue material.”
Giving an example to the things that were taking place under the previous administration, John said:
“An assessor might have been working in a particular area. … And he met, he encountered somebody who he claimed to be his friend. And when he started doing assessment, you find he built a house for he friend,” John said, but declined to mention the area in which the situation occurred.