President Danny Faure witnessed the official opening of the Barbarons Transit Home during an official ceremony held at Barbarons, Grand Anse this afternoon. The President accompanied by the Minister for Land Use, Housing, Infrastructure and Land Transport (MHILT), Mrs Pamela Charlette, had the honour of unveiling the plaque to officially declare the estate open.
The Barbarons Transit Home project, a first of its kind in Seychelles, was initiated to accommodate emergency cases of families without a home or desperate for temporary reprieve, whilst starting over following a natural disaster and fire. In the recent past, pressure was placed on existing housing stock as housing solutions for those unfortunate families who could not be helped through the existing structure, often at the expense of another family on the waiting list for a home.The Ministry recognised the need to provide a better framework to cater for such cases and launched the projects for the construction of the transit home.
A suitable plot of land was identified and a proposal was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers and successfully negotiated with SPTC for use part of the land allocated to them. The design of the project was finalised, tendered and was undertaken by Reliance Engineering and Ascent Projects. In parallel, the Ministry has also worked on a Policy to allocate and manage the estate through Property Management Company (PMC) upon completion.
The project which includes 42 units began in May 2018 and was completed in July 2019 at a total cost of SCR 21.2 million. It comprises of 16 three bedroom units, 18 two bedroom units and 8 one bedroom units. In partnership with the Public Utilities Corporation and the Agency for Social Protection, all the units at the estate will be installed with Solar Photovoltaic System as a more cost effect alternative which will in return benefit the tenants in lowering their monthly payment for electricity.
Following the unveiling, the estate was blessed by the Parish Priest followed by the handing over of keys to the new tenants of the units. A total of 14 families were presented with their keys by the Principal Secretary for Housing, Mr Denis Barbe, and the Chief Executive Officer of Property Management Company (PMC), Ms Evelina Antat.
Addressing the guests present, Minister Charlette retraced the journey from the conception of the project and stressed on the importance of ensuring that the policy guidelines for allocations and length of stay in the transit homes are observed. She maintained that it is crucial that some of the units remain vacant for the case of any natural disaster or fire.
Today’s official opening of the Barbarons transit home marks the end of the journey of the project but the start of a rebuilding journey for many families who now stand to benefit and can swiftly be assisted.
The president proceeded for a tour of the estate viewing some of the units, the solar PV system, and water storage insulation, and also had the opportunity to interact with some of the new residents present for the ceremony.
Also present for the opening ceremony was the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly, Hon. Charles Decommarmond, Ministers, Members of the National Assembly, Principal Secretaries, Chief Executive Officers, Members of the Regional Council, District Administrators, tenants and other invited guests.