NIA Responsible and Flexible Enough to Meet Challenges of Unseen Events says Housing Minister
NIA-CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS (January 25TH, 2011) — “To be deemed an effective government you must not only have policies and visions for the long-term but such an institution must also be capable of being responsible and flexible enough to meet the challenges of the unseen events.”
This is according to the Nevis Island Administration’s [NIA] Minister of Housing and Land the Honourable E. Robelto Hector who was at the time addressing a hefty crowd at the recent opening of the Cherry Garden Housing Development.
The Nevis Reformation Party-led NIA, as highlighted by Minister Hector, realised the impact on Nevisians of the two-year closure of the Four Seasons Resort and subsequently rethought its approach to the Cherry Garden Housing Development.
“The global economic crisis created a challenge for this federation. Under the direction of the Honourable Premier we were proactive in responding to the needs and challenges of our citizens and out of the quest to provide for our people Cherry Garden materialised,” Minister Hector said.
The housing official credited the establishment of the Cherry Garden community to “a government and a housing cooperation that have the people at the top of their agenda” and who had demonstrated “foresight, skill and proper planning while strategically choosing a prime location for housing and ensuring that modern amenities were available.”
“There is nothing random about this community,” he said stating that the “proper road network added beauty to the new modern development and accessibility to the homes.”
The houses, he outlined “are designed so that they meet the needs of the applicant. It is indeed pleasant for the eyes to behold the beauty of Cherry Garden: parents are comfortable and children are happy. The atmosphere here is sociable,” Minister Hector said.
Amidst an emotional moment that appeared to be fused with pride and disbelief, Minister Hector described his joy when residents of Cherry Garden conversed with him about their living arrangements.
“Their voices are filled with happiness, their eyes are lit with a bright spark of satisfaction as I pass through this community and feel the warmth of the children as their voices shout my name and there is indeed a sense of pride in me and my party that we have done something spectacular for the people of Nevis,” Mr. Hector said as his words were backed by the sound of applause.
While describing the Cherry Garden Housing Development as “a very ambitious and impressive undertaking,” the minister said there is “renewed optimism” and “immense potential for additional development” in Nevis.
This, he said, was partly due to “the global slowdown and the recessionary trends that are now slowly moving behind us.”
Minister Hector’s Ministry of Housing and Land had since 2006, constructed almost 300 homes, offered lower prices to first time home buyers, began a policy of building on people’s land, convinced a large number of commercial banks to grant 100 percent financing to first time home buyers and facilitated a civil servants programme that offered $15 million for housing for civil servants.