Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says the Government cannot seek recourse from contractors for shoddy work on homes in the Union Hall housing project. He made the comment yesterday as he toured the San Fernando project with Housing Development Corporation (HDC) officials and Unemployment Relief Progamme co-ordinators.
After viewing a house, which he described as being on the brink of collapse because of water damage from an improperly installed roof, the minister said some Union Hall residents were facing serious problems. He lamented, however, that contractors cannot be penalised. "The time for contractors facing liability, legal action has elapsed," he said. "Over the years, the former National Housing Authority and HDC did not move with the haste we would have liked," Moonilal explained.
He said the Housing Ministry would have do remedial works on some of the houses through the Home Repairs Unit, which would be approached for assistance to seal off the roof to prevent further leakage and undermining of the structure. Moonilal said the team visited a few homes where residents had "very serious problems as they relate to construction of the NHA homes."