$2.3 billion owed to HAJ by housing scheme occupants

APPROXIMATELY $2.3 billion is owed to the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) by occupants of its housing schemes, with chairman of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) Peter Bunting pressing the agency on Wednesday over outstanding balances preventing some beneficiaries from receiving titles.

HAJ Managing Director Doreen Prendergast told the committee that the agency has distributed 1,378 certificates of title between 2020 and 2026, but outstanding payments remain among the reasons some titles are still being held by the agency.

“The titles are held in-house for various reasons. At our last sitting here I would have explained that some of them pertain to estate matters, conflicts, some of outstanding sums to be paid. But once they complete their transaction, complete the payment and there are no encumbrances…but we generally distribute their titles to them,” she said.