PURCHASE OF GTI LAND GIVES FURTHER IMPETUS TO STATIA’S SOCIAL HOUSING PROGRAMME

ORANJESTAD, St. Eustatius  – The Statia government’s social housing programme receives a further boost with the signing on Thursday 5 January 2023 of a purchase agreement with GTI for two plots of land in Concordia.

The contract, signed at the administrative office by Government Commissioner Alida Francis and Erik Twiest, the general manager and managing director of GTI Statia, is for the purchase of a parcel of land and a residential complex with condos at Biesheuvelweg with a total value of US$2 million. This land is a gift from the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), with the Statia government covering the transfer costs.

Under the Spatial Development Plan (SDP), both lots have been designated for housing, continuing the Statia government’s push to improve both the quantity and quality of social housing on the island.

Last June, the local government signed a €4 million cooperation agreement along with the Island Council, the Ministry of Public Housing and Spatial Planning, the Statia Housing Foundation and the Dutch Housing Corporation, Bazalt Wonen to renovate 100 social rental homes between 2023 and 2025. It also involved the construction of approximately 50 new homes by Bazalt Wonen. In addition, a series of ordinances adopted by the Island Council and will be  implemented to improve affordability, including regulations to introduce subsidies, and the establishment of a rent commission.

Also present at the signing of the agreement on Thursday 5 January were island commissioners Glenville Schmidt and Derick Simmons and William de Gannes, GTI Statia’s terminal manager.