Evaluation : Jamaica - urban and rural shelter improvements, project no. 532-HG-011

Special evaluation covers the period 1/83-7/84 and is based on document review and interviews with project personnel. Although the project has helped to support the GOJ"s 1982 National Housing Policy (NHP), which established a framework for the provision of housing finance and redefined the roles of public sector shelter institutions, implementation to date has shown that the problems of Jamaica"s shelter sector are more complex than had been thought. Institutional restructuring under the NHP may not have gone far enough as there continue to be problems in management control, cost recovery, and duplication of functions among institutions. Many housing construction and delivery functions have been improved in this project, but finance, marketing, and mortgage operations remain extremely complex, largely due to the large number of institutions involved and the complex relationships among them. Some of the units constructed under the project"s Settlement Improvement and New Schemes components are nearing completion. Unless marketing of units developed under the previous HG is accelerated, a serious bottleneck will occur. Also, the total cost for the New Schemes component exceeds the budgeted amount; the component may have to be reduced. Construction under the Build On Own Land component has lagged. No funds have yet been disbursed for home improvement or mortgage loans. Recommendations regarding the restructuring of public shelter sector institutions are given. Chief among these is the need for written agreements among coordinating agencies in order to better implement project activities. For action decisions, see abstract of PD-AAR-843.