Green Pond Grove residents wary of HAJ promises

WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite an assurance from the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) to address their concerns within a month, residents of the Green Pond Grove housing scheme in St James are wary of those promises.

The residents went public last month, declaring that the HAJ had turned over their homes to them with major deficiencies, including leaking roofs, termite infestation, missing retainer walls, and deficiencies in boundary alignment.

Following a tour of the housing scheme, the HAJ acknowledged the deficiencies and promised to rectify the issues. Within a week, workmen had commenced repairs to some houses.

In a press statement on Sunday, the HAJ documented its pledge to address the residents’ concerns, which became most apparent during the October and November rains.

“The HAJ is giving immediate attention to the issues raised by residents of the Green Pond (Grove) housing scheme outside Montego Bay in St James. A number of homeowners have complained that their ‘new’ units were leaking and that the promised infrastructure work at the housing scheme had not been completed,” the statement said.

The agency acknowledged that a tour on Friday, December 4, had revealed that the roofs of one-bedroom starter units had not been capped.

However, Derrio Johnson, president of the Green Pond Grove Citizens’ Association, told The Gleaner that the residents were offended by HAJ’s overtures.

Johnson said that HAJ Managing Director Gary Howell’s word would only be taken seriously when promises were kept.

“All the houses are still not capped. The capping would have started after the complaint went viral. I don’t know where they got the information about people being happy,” he said.

“None of the residents, to my knowledge, said they are happy with anything, because the Office of the Public Defender advised us that anything that we have to say to HAJ should be done in writing,” added Johnson.