New home-owners who benefited from Government’s housing project at Harmony Hall, Gasparillo, are complaining of cracks in their apartments. The cost of each apartment is $220,000. The residents said they expected to move into their new apartments at the end of January but to date the building remains incomplete. One resident said on December 19, they received keys to to their apartments. He added: “We were told that everything would be finished on time and that by late January, we would move in. I have to pay $1,400 for the place where I am staying now and my mortgage is $932. It is unfair that I have to pay a mortgage for an apartment which is already cracking.”

Hewas happy to get his new home but was worried that by the time he finished paying his mortgage in 2035, his apartment would have crumbled. Checks by the T&T Guardian revealed a rusty kitchen sink and incomplete staircases at the buildings. Bushy vines snaked up against the sides of the complex while there was no proper walkway to the apartment doors. The resident said now a new CEO was in place, the housing programme was being accelerated. Contacted for comment yesterday, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing Tina Gronlund Nunez said new owners could not move into the homes until certificates were received from the Electrical Inspectorate.

Regarding the cracks in the houses, Gronlund Nunez said the new tenants had a period of six months to identify all the problems they had with the HDC homes. Managing director of the HDC Jearlean John said only yesterday the Electrical Inspectorate issued splitter certificates” for buildings one, two and three. She said those buildings comprise d 16 units. John said buildings four and five would be connected tomorrow.