POND ISLAND--St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) is set to receive US $4.6 million via the recovery fund’s Emergency Recovery Project I to assist with the urgent repairs of its housing inventory. An additional $400,000 will finance technical assistance to redesign a proposed housing complex and to better strengthen SMHDF.
Public Housing VROMI Minister Miklos Giterson said housing was one of the topics discussed with the World Bank in Washington DC. The progress on repairs and an eventual master plan for the upgrading of the social housing system were on the agenda.
A top World Bank housing expert made a preparation of a future affordable housing project with a key point being an overall need for more data on the housing sector and needs in St. Maarten.
“Building new homes is only part of the solution. In the coming months, VROMI and the World Bank will work together to develop a comprehensive sector-wide approach to ensure that there is sufficient affordable housing,” Giterson said in the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.
