Feb 25 - Government Criticises GSD Housing Complaints
Last week, the GSD Opposition urged the Government to reveal exactly how many Government rental properties will be provided during their first term. The Government has today responded by noting that the housing projects announced to date will cater for approximately 950 flats, about 140 of which have been earmarked for rental.
A Government statement released today added, ‘the exact number will be known once the tenders have been awarded and the exact room composition is known. The Government have announced five housing projects and put three of them to tender in only 14 months. It took the GSD ten years to get to this position. Therefore their continuous nitpicking on these issue lacks any credibility.’
The statement continues, ‘more than that, the GSD went as far as announcing housing projects which then never materialised. In March 2003, the then GSD Government announced 150 flats for rental to people on the Government housing waiting list on two sites in Devil's Tower Road, principally on the site of the existing workers' hostel. This never materialised. The GSD also announced, in Government, that 200 affordable homes would be built by the developers of the Eastside project. This again failed to materialise.
It is evident that the now Opposition are not in a position to preach to anyone about housing. The flats that finally saw the light of day during their time in office were rushed through almost as an afterthought in the final years of their tenure. This explains why the housing waiting list grew by about 250% during that time’.
