Leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, says his party will embark on the ‘Portia Initiative’, a programme for the orderly renewal and transformation of infrastructure in all areas.

The programme is named in honour of the PNP’s former president and Jamaica’s first female Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller.

Golding made the announcement during his address at the 86th staging of the PNP’s annual conference on Sunday, September 15.

“This programme will drive policies that Sister P stood for, improving infrastructure in old housing schemes, tearing down zinc fences in communities and replacing them with proper concrete, completing the infrastructure and land titling for existing land tenure regularising schemes, and rolling out new ones to bring hope and decent living conditions in areas of social neglect,” Golding said.

Additionally, Golding has promised to make lands available to the National Housing Trust (NHT) for qualified contributors to allow them to build their own homes.

“From day one we are going to restore the core mandate of the National Housing Trust, which was the baby of Michael Joshua Manley. We will stop the extraction of funds from the NHT, and we will return to providing affordable houses for people who need to buy or build a home,” he added.

Golding also said his administration will conduct a review of the laws relating to housing to make housing more affordable for Jamaicans.