The National Workers Union (NWU) has to expressed its appreciation to St. Lucia Mortgage Finance Company Limited (SMFC) on its 47th year of operation.
During that period, the SMFC has successfully executed its intended mandate of providing affordable land and housing projects for Saint Lucians, the Union said, adding.
“Forty seven years of operation is indeed a triumphant hall mark for SMFC, with evidence of affordable land and housing projects in Ravine Chabot, Independence City, La Pansee, Sans Souci, Reduit Park, Reduit Orchard and Massade to mention a few. It was just unfortunate that banana farmers who made a significant contribution to Saint Lucia’s overall development by bringing into Saint Lucia over one hundred million dollars per year in banana income, were not signaled out to access SMFC’s offerings”.
The NWU said at this stage, and given the hostile economic environment that exists, it was even more convinced that the role of the SMFC must be intensified. “As Saint Lucia continues to depend heavily on tourism for its bread and butter, we cannot ignore the contribution being made by hotel and tourism services workers in that developing sector which currently employs over 12,000 heads,” the Union said
It called on the Government of Saint Lucia to move swiftly and use its influence to get funding from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) at a reasonable interest repayment rate for the SMFC, saying these funds should act as fuel for SMFC to get out of its comatose position and continue its mandate to enable Saint Lucians and especially workers in the hotel and tourism services sector to access affordable land and house within housing development projects.