00:00The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association reports police officers have been facing challenges in making home ownership a reality.
00:10When you look at the officer's salary, you know, it is some need for some improvement. When you look at the housing market in Trinidad and Tobago, it's really priced between $1.2 to $1.5 million, which provides a particular challenge, you know, for our officers because they come in at different ranks.
00:31So we have an issue where for the new officer, they may not reach the salary price point. And for those who may have reached the salary price point, they may not have the age. You know, so it's really an issue that we decide to look at to really ensure that all officers can benefit from owning their own house. And I mean, we have special reserves. We have municipals, you know, that we also want to benefit.
00:56Association Vice President Acting ASP Pitt says, while some officers have been allocated HDC units, that number barely scratches the surface.
01:06They have 10% for national security. And if we had to put that within perspective, there's 100 houses being built. It means to say that 10 of those houses will go towards national security. And that have to be further broken down into police service, prison service, fire service, the defense force.
01:25So with that, you can have an appreciation as to how much officers in the equation would benefit from a house.
01:32In response to these challenges, the association developed a housing initiative in collaboration with Hardware and Beyond, which has already seen a few dozen officers built or renovate their own homes and even invest in projects.
01:48Our credit facility is hinged on the membership of the police service association. So members of the association can access this facility. What you do, you come to our hardware, you get a quotation, you run it through the association, they give you the approvals, they run the necessary checks. You come to us, we sign off and your goods are delivered. Straightforward, very simple.
02:10Officers have up to 24 months to pay and the first six months are interest free.
02:15The association has negotiated very hard for a reduction in interest. So nothing exceeding maybe 8 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent maximum on a facility.
02:27The offer is also open to officers in Tobago. Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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