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(CNS): Cabinet has approved an additional CI$550,000 for a second Housing Repairs Assistance Programme to help people who don’t have the means to repair their homes. The government has also authorised the National Housing and Development Trust (NHDT) to use $1.6 million of its budget to do the same thing for people not eligible for the HRA Programme, making a total of $2.15 million of government funds dedicated to home repairs. The additional funds were approved despite Premier Wayne Panton’s request to civil servants that they help cut over CI$47 million from the 2023 spending plan.
Panton is currently on vacation and was not present at a special caucus meeting on Tuesday, but officials said that he supports the additional funding. The special meeting was called by Acting Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who said in a release that she was happy to call the special caucus meeting to consider the second HRA Programme.
The first programme was launched last year when the Ministry of Social Development, which administers the initiative, gave $1.5 million to the R3 Cayman Foundation to conduct the repairs, as the charity was already doing similar work. Officials said that since May 2021, the first HRA Programme had repaired 88 homes in Grand Cayman. It is unclear if the R3 Foundation will still be doing the work for this additional $550,000.
This programme provides housing repair assistance to Caymanians who are financially supported by the government and are elderly or disabled or have children who are in need, as per section 19 of the Children Act (2012 Revision).
Referrals that are beyond the scope of the HRA programme will be handled by the NHDT. According to the release, “To maximise combined efforts, NHDT will focus primarily on housing repair cases where applicants are ineligible for HRA assistance (e.g. household is not deemed as ‘indigent’ according to the Needs Assessment Criteria, the estimated amount, if the complexity of repairs is beyond the HRA remit, or if the applicant‘s home is insured but the homeowner cannot afford the deductible).”
Housing Minister Jay Ebanks said the government believes “that having a dry and safe home is critical to the well-being of our Caymanian families. In addition to authorising the NHDT to utilise up to CI$1,100,000 of their budget for home repairs, today we also approved an additional CI$500,000 for a total of CI$1,600,000.”
The NHDT will collaborate with the HRA Programme and the Ministry of Social Development regarding housing repair across Grand Cayman. The Sister Islands have their own existing repair programme under the Ministry of District Administration.
Commenting on the additional $550,000 that Cabinet approved for the HRA Programme, O’Connor-Connolly said, “Keeping Caymanian families safe, secure and comfortable in their homes is a priority of our administration. This approval reflects our commitment to that priority. This money will enable the most vulnerable Caymanian families to make their households safe and secure.”
Social Development Minister André Ebanks said he was grateful for Cabinet’s approval of the extra funds for the HRA Programme. “We are determined to assist Caymanian families who would not otherwise be able to afford the necessary repairs to maintain a dry, healthy, safe and liveable environment for them and their families.”
Although the premier has said that public spending needs to be cut by around 8.5% for the remaining four months of the year, in a short statement issued Wednesday he confirmed that the government was not cutting services or programmes to help local people.
“We continue to focus on the cost of living, traffic, education, housing, healthcare, facilitating a strong and resilient economy and ensuring our natural and built environment can support thriving communities,” he said. “We continue to put the Caymanian people front and centre of all our decision-making. Positive financial outcomes should not simply be left to chance; they need to be carefully planned and managed and even more so with an organisation as large as a government.”
He said careful planning and management may not be a guarantee for budget compliance, but whatever the outcomes, they are required to be published within a framework of statutory reporting requirements to facilitate full transparency for the public.
The directive to cut spending was issued to senior civil servants in a memo entitled “Operating Expenditures for 2023”, which was leaked to the media.
Confirming that he had sent the memo, Panton said, “Issuing the memo was the responsible action to take, and guidance memos are hardly unusual in government. The $977 million target sought for Operating Expenditures for the 2023 financial year is realistic and reasonable, considering that such expenditures totalled approximately $970 million in 2022.”
Taking aim at whoever had leaked the memo, he said, “Although it is unfortunate that some may take their oaths of confidentiality lightly, it is more important that whoever shared that memo with the public is implementing the adjustments suggested in the memo.”
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