MP Griffith speaks of future plans

IF all goes well over 100 low-cost housing solutions will be soon be available in St. John.

So says Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural Development and Member of Parliament for St. John, Charles Griffith. He made the disclosure to The Barbados Advocate on the sidelines of his annual Christmas party for the children in the constituency, which took place at the Gall Hill Pavilion on Saturday evening, but remained mum on the details.

Griffith said, “We have been mandated to bring on stream at least 500 housing solutions, low-cost housing solutions by the end of the financial year. I have also earmarked an area of land in St. John that I would really not want to identify at this time, but that is being proposed and it should bring in excess of 100 housing solutions to the constituency,” he said.

His comments came as he said apart from providing much-needed housing, there is a considerable amount of infrastructural work needed in the rural constituency so far as roads are concerned. Griffith indicated that a number of the roads in the area are in a state of disrepair and he is hoping that these road conditions can be addressed as soon as possible.

“Some of the major roads I am hoping to have done within the constituency are Welch, we have Pot House that is really now in a bad, bad state, we have Martin’s Bay that is also an issue – these are some of the main roads in St. John that are really, really in a serious state of disrepair. If I can have some of those roads started and completed in 2020, I would be very, very pleased,” he stated.

Going into the New Year, Minister Griffith said that he will be putting a great deal of focus on developing the youth, especially in the area of training and sports.

“In particular training that would lead to work, so it would be skills-to-work training that I am proposing to happen. Coding is also one of the areas we will look at. We have a community centre that is currently underutilised and not engaged as it should be. It is out-fitted with about 12 or so computers, so coding is one of those areas that can generate immediate employment for persons in the constituency,” he said.

Griffith also spoke of training women in the constituency who are currently unemployed in dressmaking. Noting that there are three primary schools in the constituency, he said if persons can be trained to make those uniforms, it would be a win-win situation for them and parents alike. He said they would help to generate income for themselves and provide low-cost uniforms for the primary schools. (JRT)