KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition spokesperson on housing and sustainable living, Senator Floyd Morris is calling on the government to intervene in the matter between the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the homeowners of Ruthven Towers, a housing development in New Kingston that was built by the NHT.
“The residents purchased these apartments from the NHT with the understanding that the development would have certain specific amenities, the cost of which was included in the price of their units. These amenities were to include a swimming pool, jogging trail, clubhouse, conference room and a gym, all to have been delivered to the homeowners by December 2024. However, none of these facilities have been constructed, and the owners have now been told that they will not become available to them before 2028, despite paying for these facilities in their monthly mortgage payments,” Morris said.
“From what I have read in the newspapers and from dialogue with homeowners at Ruthven Towers, a blatant travesty of justice is being meted out to these individuals. The NHT, which is a public body within the prime minister’s portfolio responsibility, cannot continue to treat our citizens this way.”
He is urging the NHT to honour its commitments to those who have purchased their homes in the development which he says is also riddled with construction and infrastructure defects.
“There are reports of leaking roofs and bursting water pipes, faulty electrical works, lifting floor tiles and poor installation of doors. The place is also experiencing flooding whenever there are heavy rains,” Morris said.
Describing the situation as an act of injustice, Morris said it was Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ responsibility to right the “shambolic situation that is not of the owners’ making.”
According to Morris, Ruthven Towers, which was intended as a marquee project at a higher end of the market than the NHT was established to serve, is turning out to be one of the worst housing projects that the NHT has implemented in its almost 50-year history.
He is calling on the trust to make restitution to the residents by providing equitable reprieve in their mortgage payments until it remedies the defects and completes the agreed amenities at the development.