Construction of 12,000 Housing Units Project: PM Jugnauth effects site visit in Coromandel

To mark the start of the construction of 903 Housing Units in Coromandel in the context of the construction of 12,000 Residential Units Project across the country, the New Social Living Development (NSLD) organised, this afternoon, a guided tour of the site in Coromandel. The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo; the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy ; and other personalities were present on the occasion. In a statement after the visit, Prime Minister Jugnauth recalled that this site visit is in line with Government’s major project to build 12,000 Residential Units across the country. He added that the NSLD, a branch of the National Housing Development Co. Ltd, has been entrusted with the mandate to construct these Housing Units, which is to be distributed in an equitable manner across the 20 Constituencies of Mauritius. Coromandel, Mr Jugnauth indicated, is a prime site of a total of 41 Acres and is the largest site in terms of both extent and number of Housing Units to be constructed, namely 600 units for Constituency Number 20 and 303 units for Constituency Number One, the site being the nearest with the concerned Constituency. Furthermore, the Prime Minister indicated that significant challenges had to be dealt with in order to find suitable lands for the construction of these Units. They include geotechnical investigation to determine whether ground conditions are favourable for the proposed type of development, and the good positioning of the site in terms of access to services, he said. In this context, Mr Jugnauth expressed appreciation for the efforts deployed by the Ministry of Housing and Land Use Planning in collaboration with others stakeholders who have worked hard to initiate major developments in the project. Furthermore, he reiterated Government’s objective to complete this mega project by 2024 which aims to provide affordable households to the population. For his part, DPM Obeegadoo highlighted that it is a matter of pride to see that the 12,000 Housing Units project is moving forward, and expressed confidence that in the coming months, new construction projects will be initiated, thereby creating a major impetus in the field of development and advancement. The project The Coromandel site is the largest site in terms of both extent and number of Housing Units to be constructed, of a total of 41 Acres. The design of the apartment blocks, as well as on-site and off-site infrastructure works have been conceptualised in a holistic manner. The site is 395 m in width and 450 m in length and has a total area of 172,761 metres square. Considering that the volume of earthworks at Coromandel is substantial, a separate earthworks contract has been awarded to prepare the platforms for builder’s works and shall be completed by November 2022. The design and bidding process for building works will be carried out in parallel and bids will be launched at the start of August and it is expected that the contract will be awarded at the start of November 2022. The tender for building works will be split in three lots with the option for any tenderer to bid for all three lots. The duration of the contract is 24 months with partial delivery expected after 18 months. The bid procurement will also allow any potential contractors to propose alternative methods of construction in order to reduce the construction period.