HOUSE ARREST

For seven years, she lived at the Fletcher’s Land Police Station in Kingston; its barracks served as her bedroom, the two guardrooms her living and dining quarters. Seats in the reception area served as her sofa.

Fate has been topsy-turvy for District Constable Karen Samuels, who for decades has been battling a gang of illnesses and hospital stays.

Homelessness has been another bother; its symptoms: anger and anxiety, as she awaits the opening of the long-overdue Phase 3 of the Foreshore Estates Housing Scheme off Spanish Town Road in Kingston.

It’s either that, she told The Sunday Gleaner last week, or a refund of more than half a million dollars in down payment on a lot in the area.

At this point, however, she prefers the refund, but years after making a refund request, she has not received a cent.

Samuels is among several frustrated law enforcement officers in the Kingston Central Police Division, who have been seeking word from World Homes Jamaica Limited, the developers of the housing scheme.

The Foreshore Estate project, a collaboration between World Homes and the National Housing Trust (NHT), was promoted as a gated community with social amenities such as children’s playgrounds, costing between $1.4 million for starter units and $5.35 million for two-bedroom units, which would be accessible via the own-a-home loans offered by the NHT.

The “affordable” community – for which Prime Minister Andrew Holness broke ground in 2018 – should have been completed by 2019. Years after, however, only one phase has been completed, leaving customers awaiting the completion of the remaining phases fuming.

The issue came to the fore last year, as some prospective homeowners filed a complaint against World Homes with the Real Estate Board after facing the same challenges.

“I am fully loaded with illnesses, and I want to know if I am going to die leave my money that I have worked so hard for,” said the disabled cop.

Samuels suffers from a string of heart conditions, seizure disorders, diabetes, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and a range of physical disabilities.

“I have been waiting on this house so long, and this is really, really wrong. I would like to reach out to the prime minister. He is the person that broke the ground for a lot of us to get a roof over our heads,” she pressed. “That has not come true. We are still out there. Our money is still out there.”

Once a resident of St Andrew, at one point, Samuels’ illnesses landed her in the Police Convalescent Home in Black River, St Elizabeth. Soon, she was back in the Corporate Area and the police station where she was assigned became her refuge.

For seven years she lived within its walls, moving out only earlier this year.

Samuels was always present, and thus always on call, even in the predawn hours. The residents of Fletcher’s Land have come to know her, and respect her.

Samuels praises God for sparing her from contracting the dreaded COVID-19 disease when almost all the officers at the station were stricken.

Six months ago, she moved in with her 22-year-old daughter and a caregiver in Portmore, St Catherine. Still, they are struggling financially. And she continues to anxiously await word on the completion of the housing project or a refund.

NO ONE IN OFFICE

The Sunday Gleaner emailed and telephoned World Homes Jamaica Limited to no avail. A visit to its offices on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston was also fruitless, except for a receptionist on the ninth floor pointing visitors to the already listed office number. It was not clear the last time that President William Lai or Candice Bryan, consultant for World Homes Limited, had been in office.

This was no surprise to another policewoman at the Fletcher’s Land Police Station, who said that she, too, has been having a hard time securing a refund of her deposit of $600,000. Since 2017, she has been paying some $18,000 monthly for the loan.

“It is very hard for police officers to be out here fighting and trying to make our way, trying to find opportunities, and we are being treated like this. This is really hard, and worse with back to school now, we can do so much with that refund right now,” said Corporal Collet McLean, sharing that although she signed a refund request form in 2021, she has heard nothing from the developers since.

Last week, the NHT informed The Sunday Gleaner that it was still in dialogue with the developer regarding the completion of the project, and the repayment of the NHT loan.

So far, phase one (48 units) has been completed and phase two (30 units) is 80 per cent complete, the NHT said.

“Under the loan agreement, the NHT has agreed to provide up to 100 per cent of construction costs, which includes infrastructure and housing for each phase. Loan disbursements are based on certification of works completed,” said the state entity.

“In submitting their application for the construction loan, developers must establish the viability of their housing development by providing information to demonstrate its marketability, among other things. The NHT, in return, provides an undertaking to finance the project upon the developer meeting the above and other conditions throughout the project cycle.”

The agency added, “The arrangement is such that the approval of each phase is to be based on the successful implementation of the preceding phase. World Homes Jamaica Limited is solely responsible for the marketing and sales of the units. World Homes is solely responsible for the repayment of the loan.”

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com