Africa-Press – Mauritius. Some 420 families will benefit from the Roof Slab Grant Scheme, amounting to Rs 32 m, for the month of February 2022, stated the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, and Minister of Tourism, Mr Steven Obeegadoo, this afternoon at the Farmers Service Centre in Goodlands.
The Deputy Prime Minister was participating in a symbolic cheque remitting ceremony, organised by the National Housing Development Company (NHDC) Ltd for beneficiaries of the Roof Slab Grant Scheme.
The Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Soodesh Callichurn; the Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mr Avinash Teeluck; and other personalities were also present.
In his address, Mr Obeegadoo affirmed that since November 2019, the NHDC disbursed Rs 211 million for 2,288 families under this particular Scheme. He said that Government’s objective is to provide a helping hand to hard working families as they progress towards their goals.
Recalling that the Roof Slab Grant Scheme was introduced in 1997 and targeted households earning less than Rs 7,500 who owned a plot of land but could not afford to complete construction of their house, the Deputy Prime Minister underlined that the income eligibility criteria had been reviewed to cater now for families whose monthly income was not higher than Rs 20,000.
“We have adapted the Scheme throughout the years to fit in with the needs of the population and have extended the Roof Slab Grant Scheme, together with the Building Materials Grant Scheme, to occupiers of EDC houses containing asbestos,” he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister talked, too, of the survey undertaken by the NHDC which showed that the number of people on the waiting list for a housing unit was 20,000.
He stressed that Government was catching up with the backlog with the numerous housing projects underway, for which completion of work was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that while 1,200 houses had been delivered to their owners by the NHDC Ltd since November 2019, by June the figures would rise to more than 2,800.
According to Mr Obeegadoo, 300 beneficiaries would receive the key to their house in Mare Tabac by March, and another 300 in Wooton in June. He averred that the NHDC Ltd would build an additional 2,500 houses by 2024 in Mare d’Albert, La Valette, Mon Goût, Agalega, among others.
He moreover talked of the project for the construction of 12,000 social houses across Mauritius which, he said, would kick off soon. For their part, both Ministers Callichurn and Teeluck applauded the beneficiaries for their efforts in making savings and sacrifices to build their home.
They pointed out that Government would continue to take the necessary steps to better the quality of life of the population though various services and facilities across all sectors as well as enhanced infrastructure.
Furthermore, Mr Callychurn underscored Government’s initiatives to lessen the impact of the economic crisis on families, namely the rising cost of freight due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and palliate their reduced purchasing power.
However, the Minister urged the population to favour and procure local foodstuffs, thereby spending less money on these commodities and diminishing the country’s dependency on imports, as currently Mauritius was a net food import economy.
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