Four very happy families received the keys to their new homes in St. John’s on Thursday, July 8 2021. It concerns four restored social housing units of the Own Your Own Home Foundation (OYOHF) which were rebuilt after a fire.
At the time of the fire several years ago, the building consisted of two units, known as St. John’s number 3 and 4. A complete reconstruction of the houses took place in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK), the Planning Bureau of the Public Entity Saba and the Dutch housing corporation Bazalt Wonen (formerly Woonlinie).
In the reconstruction plans it was decided to add another floor to the building in order to create two additional units, which is welcome news for the families who are on the waiting list and in need of affordable social housing.
The four families were overjoyed and even a bit emotional as they received the keys from Commissioner of Social Affairs Rolando Wilson and Maarten Koster of Bazalt Wonen together with OYOHF representative Eviton Heyliger. The OYOHF will manage the four units. The Planning Bureau of OLS did the project management.
The units on the ground floor are made of concrete and have three bedrooms each. The two units on the first floor consist of a wooden, sturdy, hurricane proof structure. These units each have two bedrooms. The homes have a new kitchen, bathroom and a magnificent view from the balcony. Each of the four units has its own cistern.
The project suffered some delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of manpower in the construction sector.
The new tenants were handed over the keys by commissioner Rolando Wilson and Maarten Koster and Thijs Voncken from Bazalt Wonen in presence of the Planning Bureau, represented by Bobby Zagers and Evita Pronk, and Eviton Heyliger from OYOHF.