In an effort to alleviate this issue, the government acquired 7.2 acres of land in Mocha, Soufriere to provide house and land packages to those affected. The government also partnered with the Fond St. Jacques Credit Cooperative to provide concessionary loans to residents. The loan repayments ranged from $90 per month to $200 per month for house and land packages; 25 loans were given to residents. The Cooperative would then repay the government a half-a-million-dollar loan at no interest.

This payment process was successful in some instances, and in others, residents were delinquent in the repayment of their loans. Additionally, many residents were not given the deeds to their properties, even after fully repaying the loan. The Credit Cooperative wrote to the prior administration seeking assistance in the resolution of this land issue to no avail. Finally, in 2023, the government gave residents their deeds and forgave the Cooperative’s debt. The Fond St. Jacques Credit Union Manager, Darnel Bobb, speaking at the deed handover ceremony, thanked the government for resolving this issue.

“When this new government came in, I wrote again on 12 October, 2021. I received a response within a month or two [saying that] it will be looked into and the matter will be resolved…my first request from that letter was asking the government to write off the monies that we owed them of over half a million dollars. That was written off sometime last year, and so we have transformed what was a liability into an asset on our books,” Bobb explained.

According to him, neither the residents nor the Credit Cooperative had access to the deeds for the properties. This, he added, has changed.

“The second request is to give those who have paid their loans as per the agreement their deeds. We have also asked for the deeds for those who have not paid because by right, the deeds are supposed to be assigned to us. Today, I’m happy to report that we are at a stage where we can hand over deeds to those people who have paid off their loans,” he informed.

MP for Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques Hon. Emma Hippolyte addressed both the staff of the Credit Cooperative and the residents present. She reminded them that she, and the government, will do all in their power to resolve the issue of housing and affordable financing in Soufriere.

“This particular loan was causing challenges for the Cooperative, and when I received that letter, I had to make representation to the Prime Minister. He understood the implications for the Fond St. Jacques Credit Union, and we went to Parliament and wrote off that debt,” she said.

Continuing to the residents: “This is your government putting you first. I can tell you that I will work with the Minister for Housing and the Prime Minister to see what relief we can bring and how we can address Mocha and Fond St. Jacques in general, as it relates to housing.”

In addition to the 25 house and land packages initially given, ten more packages were created for those who require housing as a result of Hurricane Tomas.