The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Carmichael Village housing project will begin this month with a Cabinet minister yesterday voicing hope that it will “speed up” in the coming months.

Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister for housing and transport, speaking ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting said planning for the long-awaited Carmichael Village housing project, which is being financed by $20m from Jamaica-based Proven Wealth Management, is “going really well”.

“That’s in the early stages and we’re hoping to speed it up in the next few months,” she added. Carmichael Village is intended to provide 365 residential and commercial lots over four phases using a private-public partnership (PPP) model, where housing is constructed by private developers and financed by private capital.

Turning to Abaco, Mrs Coleby-Davis said: “Right now we are doing about 30 homes. The first PPP that we had engaged, they already started the first ten of the homes. We were able to issue assignment letters for two of those ten, and we’re getting ready to start the other 18 lots on one side, and then another few lots elsewhere. So that’s in the Central Pines area.

“Spring City is where we’re doing some infrastructure work on a portion that has 21 lots surveyed already. So we’ll be seeking to start construction on that as soon as the infrastructure is done and then, of course, we have... I think it’s the Pine Tree project that I announced during my budget contribution.

“We’re reviewing the land mass of that area to see what’s still available for us to begin seeking to do some homes there, and that’s a large plot of land.”

The Pine Tree project is over 1,000 acres, and the Ministry of Housing and Transport aims to have 50 homes built by year-end in Abaco and 300 by end-2023.

Construction will be “financed by the contractor”. Mrs Coleby- Davis continued: “And the purchasers are mortgaged by the Mortgage Corporation, or whichever financial institution they choose, and that’s how they make their payment.

“We just try to make sure it is within the realm of $140,000 or $120,000 to a little over $170,000. So we try to keep it a good price for a home.”