Morris bats for end to ‘raiding’ of NHT

Senator Professor Floyd Morris, opposition spokesman on housing and sustainable living, has given notice that he plans to move a motion to effect changes to how the National Housing Trust (NHT) is being operated at the next sitting of the Senate.

Morris gave notice during Friday’s sitting of the Senate, noting that the NHT is, this year, celebrating 50 years in existence.

The NHT was established in 1976 by the then Michael Manley administration with a mandate to develop affordable houses for low- and middle-income Jamaicans.

Fifty years later, the NHT is now subject to an annual extraction of $11.4 billion towards supporting the National Budget, which has often been labelled as ‘raiding’ the Trust.

This extraction, along with an observation of its 50th anniversary and a return to its core function, form the basis of Morris’ motion.

Morris said the NHT was established by the government of the day “within the context of a foundational principle of social justice and a recognition that shelter is a right for our citizens”.

Morris noted that the Trust, by building more than 300,000 houses, has led the modernisation and transformation of housing in Jamaica, impacting in excess of one million Jamaicans since inception.

“Every time a Jamaican receives a key to a house built by the NHT or mortgage provided by the institution, the beneficiaries should be reminded that the Most Honourable Michael Manley established this transformational institution at a time when there was much resistance to its creation,” Morris stated.

“His visionary policy has proven the naysayers wrong as in every constituency and community across Jamaica, a housing scheme or house has been built out of funds from the NHT.”

The senator said the NHT, through its transformational role, has caused the eradication of wattle and daub, thatch, and bamboo houses across Jamaica.

Restore core mandate

Morris is calling for the Senate to do three things.

“Be it resolved that this honourable Senate (1) recognises the 50th anniversary milestone and achievement of the NHT; (2) calls on the Government to restore the NHT to its core mandate of providing affordable houses to the people of Jamaica; and (3) further calls upon the Government to end annual extraction of $11.4 billion from the NHT for budgetary support and to ensure that these funds are directed at building affordable houses for contributors.”

Extraction of funds from the NHT to support non-housing expenditure first occurred when $5 billion was diverted to the Education Transformation Fund as announced in the 2005-2006 Budget Debate by then Prime Minister P. J. Patterson.

However, the consistent, large-scale, annual extraction of NHT funds for direct budgetary support began in the 2012-2013 financial year with then Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips announcing in May 2012 that $4 billion would be taken from the NHT to support the 2012-2013 Budget. In 2013, the Portia Simpson Miller administration formally amended the law to draw down $11.4 billion annually from the NHT for four years to meet International Monetary Fund fiscal targets.

Despite criticising the practice in opposition, the Jamaica Labour Party administration continued the $11.4-billion annual drawdown, starting in 2017, and later, through 2020 legislation, approved a $57-billion drawdown over five years to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By March this year, when the $57-billion drawdown is completed, it has been estimated that $155 billion would have been extracted from the NHT for governmental, non-housing purposes since 2005.

In 2024, economists Dr Adrian Stokes and Keenan Falconer agreed that discontinuing the controversial multibillion-dollar annual drawdown would not have been in Jamaica’s best interest at the time.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com