THE cries of flooding and bad roads from the people of Sophia will soon be a thing of the past as they are currently benefitting from a multi-million-dollar project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Development projects in the tune of $867M will be rolled out across the community by the end of the year. The entire operation falls under the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme, through the Central Housing & Planning Authority.
This programme will see Sophia benefitting from road upgrades in asphaltic and concrete, proper drainage system, bridges and walkways.

Additionally, this project includes providing housing and subsidies for home improvements for the residents as well.

Deputy Director of Community Development at CH&PA, Donnel Bess-Bascom said that over 2000 residents will benefit from home improvement subsidy, and in addition core houses will be built. However, in 2019, only 50 will be processed to commence construction.

Bess-Bascom explained the criteria and the process, “In Sophia, we will be having 50 core homes and 300 home improvements will commence in 2019. To date, we have completed 456 house-to-house verification visits for home improvements, and 87 house to house visits for core houses. These are the persons who would have been deemed eligible after the application period. Currently, we are in the process of selecting. By the end of August/ mid-September we will be able to complete the beneficiary selection process and have persons notified of the outcome. So everything is moving according to plan.”

She also highlighted that the community leaders played a great role in ensuring that the people of Sophia get maximum benefits. In fact, she said that the leaders have influenced what was outlined, and ensured that 30 per cent of labour must come from Sophia.
“We’re also implementing the livelihood reparation plan under this programme. We are ensuring that persons whose livelihoods are being affected, will be planned for and compensated for setbacks from construction works,” she pointed out.

Director of projects, Omar Narine said that the original run-time for the project is March 2020. However, four of the six projects are scheduled to be completed by November. One community facility, he said, is also expected to commence within the next two weeks.
A member of the community said that this project has the people of Sophia singing the Hallelujah chorus.

“The impact has been felt by the people in this area. The drainage problem is now to a minimum, and several other improvements. And I know when all this is completed, all they will be singing is the Hallelujah chorus,” he told the media.

The projects have six contractors for the construction of 10 access bridges. $867M worth in contracts are currently being executed. The original contract time for this project is March 2020, but four of the six projects are scheduled to be completed this November.