Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal is ordering a full-scale probe of the housing construction program of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).Moonilal raised serious concerns about shoddy workmanship in four districts in south Trinidad, which was the homes are so poorly built that they are not habitable.
The minister wants contracts to be reviewed by Moonilal and noted that the government will have to spend "a considerable sum of money" to correct the serious flaws.
The HDC spent billions of dollars to build the houses but hundreds of them remain vacant because of the shabby workmanship and inefficiencies in the site selections.
Moonilal told the Newsday newspaper the HDC spent $520 million on home construction in the last fiscal year and although the buildings look "pretty on the outside" they cannot be handed over to families.
He said design and construction flaws include faulty electrical systems, the absence of sewer systems and leaking roofs.
“I was extremely shocked that having spent billions of dollars, we have now a large portion of the housing estate which cannot be occupied because of shabby work and a failure to follow basic engineering principles," Moonilal told the paper.
“I will determine the extent of the problem, and an independent inquiry should be undertaken to account for the billions of dollars spent on housing, and the contractors and project managers who would have overseen construction of the housing stock,” Moonilal said.
He also noted the police are continuing to investigate allegations that members of the public have been defrauded of money by unknown persons pretending to be HDC officials and who promised to help them get a house.
Moonilal said a freeze on the future distribution of houses will remain in effect until there is a transparent process for fair distribution of the houses.
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