Caribbean News
JAMAICA: 623 New Housing Solutions at Shooter’s Hill
#Kingston, August 10, 2019 – Jamaica – Construction is to begin by December on 623 new solutions under the Shooter’s Hill Housing Development project in Portmore, St. Catherine at a cost of $7 billion. This is being facilitated through a joint venture agreement between the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and Rite Solutions Development Company.
Under the public-private partnership, affordable housing solutions, starting at $7.6 million, will be built on 157 acres of elevated land, primarily for low-and middle-income earners. The development is in keeping with measures by the Government to address the deficit of approximately 20,000 housing solutions yearly.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who signed the agreement along with principals of HAJ and Right Solutions at Jamaica House on Thursday (Aug. 8), said the costs of the units to be provided are “fairly reasonable,” especially for young professionals.
“I think these are very affordable. I can see the young nurse, the young policeman, the young university graduate immediately just waiting to get one of these (units). I want them to know, those persons who are leaving university, a year or two out of university, getting themselves settled, that the Government understands. We know what your ambitions are and we are putting in place the necessary programmes to allow you to achieve your goal of owning your own home,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that the lowering of the interest rates to zero for National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors, who earn $15,000 or less per week, has increased demand for housing.
“We have made the market bigger and now we are…ensuring that we are actually putting solutions on the market,” he said.
For his part, HAJ Chairman, Norman Brown, said that Shooter’s Hill “with its elevated location, panoramic views and gentle breeze, will undoubtedly add a new dimension to HAJ’s suite of housing projects in Portmore for which the market eagerly awaits.”
“We fully expect this project to be completed on time and within budget as this is the standard we have set for ourselves,” he added.
In his remarks, Attorney-at-law and General Counsel, Rite Solutions, Christopher Honeywell, hailed the partnership with the HAJ “in the provision of affordable and good quality housing solutions.” He noted that Cabinet was instrumental in providing the guidance and leadership that went into the structuring of the joint venture agreement, “which ensured a speedy, and efficient take off” of the project.
The Shooter’s Hill Housing Development, which is to be done on a phased basis over a three-year period, will be a gated community featuring communal play areas, commercial space and a police post. Phase one will have the lower priced solutions, while phase two will have solutions with higher prices and more upscale finishes.
With lot sizes ranging from 4,000 square feet to 6,500 square feet, the development will comprise 100 one-bedroom starter units at a cost of $7.6 million; 200 two-bedrooms, one bathroom for $11.5 million to $12.5 million; 220 two-bedrooms, two bathrooms ranging from $13.5 million to $14.5 million; and 103 three bedroom split-level units at $17.5 million. There will be water storage on site, and each unit will have a solar water heater.
This public-private partnership entails the ‘design, build and finance’ model, where the HAJ puts up the land as equity along with its technical, legal and marketing skills, and the partner will design, build and finance the development, which the HAJ will sell and share the profits.
Contact: Alecia Smith
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (seated 2nd left), affixes his signature to a joint venture agreement, which will see the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and Rite Solutions Development Company partnering to provide 623 new solutions under the Shooter’s Hill Housing Development project in Portmore, St. Catherine. Other signatories (seated, from left) are: Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr.; Chairman, HAJ, Norman Brown; and Right Solutions Directors, Vincent Taylor and Owen Campbell. Overseeing the proceedings (standing, from right) are: Attorney-at-law and General Counsel, Rite Solutions, Christopher Honeywell; and Managing Director, HAJ, Gary Howell. The signing took place at Jamaica House on Thursday (Aug.8).
Photo Credit: Yhomo Hutchinson
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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