Housing Finance is Un-affordable for the Poor: World Bank Aide Memoir
“Housing Finance is unaffordable for the poor” emi wan lo ol findings wea Mrs Rumana Huque, Senior Urban Specialist lo East Asia Infrastructure Unit or EASIN mo Mrs Geoffrey Payne, wan Land & Housing Consultant lo World Bank tufala mekem lo wan ripot wea oli submitim finis iko lo Vanuatu kavman lo end blo las yia.
Tu (2) consultants blo World Bank ya wea oli pin kam lo Vanuatu lo manis blo September 2014 tru wan invitation blo Minister of Finance Hon Maki Simelum blo kontaktem wanem oli kolem wan “Scoping Mission” blo helpem Vanuatu Kavman blo developem wan fes Housing Policy blo yumi.
Afta lo scoping mission blo olgeta wea oli pin mekem lo namba 10 kasem 19 September 2014, oli raetem wan ripot or “Aide Memoire” mo sentem finis ikam bak lo Vanuatu kavman blo lukluk tru lo em.
Ikat 3 stampa objective blo scoping mission ya. Fes wan emi blo lukluk lo ol key issues mo ol challenges wea istap faesem Housing Sector blong yumi. Sekon wan emi blo provaedem ol rekomendation lo kavman blo hao blo developem wan National Housing Policy blo Vanuatu mo namba 3 area wea oli lukluk lo em emi blo lukluk lo “Role” blo National Housing Coporation lo context blo future national policy.
YTS emi kat akses lo ripot ya mo afta wea emi read tru lo em, emi akri wetem tufala consultants ya se ol “Interest Rates” wea ol commercial banks oli stap chargem lo ol clients blo em, especially ol low-income workers emi high tumas mekem se emi become “unaffordable”.
Wan survey wea YTS Newspaper emi kontaktem emi faenem se average interest rate blo wan loan blo pem wan kraon or haus blo silip emi around 12% per annum. Average repayment blo wan loan blo pem kraon emi around VT 40,000 per month or sapos loan emi blo pem kraon mo haus or blo bilitim wan haus, repayment emi save kasem VT 60,000 or VT 70,000 lo wan manis.
Minimum wage lo Vanuatu emi VT 30,000 lo wan manis. Therefore, pai yumi no save expektem blo wan worker wea emi stap long minimum wage blo emi save ‘afford’ blo karem wan loan blo VT 4 or VT 5 million blo wan haus anda lo current high level blo “Interest Rates” wea ol commercial banks oli stap chargem today.
Problem blo high interest rates emi wan stampa rison why plante more low-income workers oli mas either “rentem” ol smol smol rum olabaot lo ol informal settlements olbaot lo town, or pai oli save afford blo bilitim nomo ol ‘kapa’ haus lo ol private kraon blo olgeta.
Ripot blo tufala World Bank experts ya emi faenem se around 34% blo population blo urban centres blo Port Vila mo Luganville oli live lo ol ‘crowded conditions’ lo ol areas olsem Seaside Tongoa, Seaside Paama or Ohlen Freshwind lo Port Vila mo ol areas around Pepsi, Pump Station mo sam areas blo Sarakata mo Chapuis lo Luganville.
“Many people have been living in crowded conditions for decades…., yet no government policy or strategy currently exists to address this issue” (World Bank Aide Memoire, September 2014)”
Plante lo ol Ni-Vanuatu citizens wea oli live lo ol ‘crowded’ settlements ya oli pin stap live olsem lo las 10 or even 20 years finis. Even sam oli live olsem since Independence lo 1980, yet kasem today, ino kat any Government Policy or Strategy istap in place blo addressem issue ya.
That is why kavman blo today emi kat strong tingting blo impruvum lifes blo ol Ni-Vanuatu citizens, especially nao ol “low-income” workers mo ol pipol wea oli stap live lo ol ‘kapa’ haus inside lo ol ‘crowded’ or informal settlements olbaot lo Port Vila mo Luganville mo ol rural areas kolosap lo tufala towns ya. Wetem strong tingting ya nao emi invaetem World Bank blo sentem tufala experts ya oli kam blo kontaktem ‘scoping mission’ ya lo Vanuatu blo helpem kavman blo raetem wan National Housing Policy blo Vanuatu.
Lo wan nara stori, YTS Newspaper emi andestan se no mata wea National Housing Corporation emi stap fasem plante financial difficulty nao ya, Board blo NHC long wan las board miting blo em, oli just pasem wan “Pilot” Housing Program blo mekem se housing finance emi save kam more ‘affordable’ especially lo ol ‘low-income’ population. Policy paper blo ‘Pilot” program ya emi stap lo consultation stage blo em nao ya bifo emi save ko kasem level blo komiti blo ol Directors mo Director-Generals blo kavman or wanem yumi save as DCO.
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