Soon, many Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation (HDC) communities will become “greener”. This as the HDC continues its Green Key Initiative, a community environmental awareness project which is aimed at building sustainable and greener housing communities. Today, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Major General (Ret’d) Edmund Dillon; MP for San Fernando East, Randall Mitchell; HDC’s Divisional Manager, Estate Management, Larry Mc Donald; HDC employees and residents of Corinth Hills, San Fernando, planted poui and palm trees in the community.
Due to the negative impact of global warming on the environment, the HDC views this initiative as a great opportunity to increase awareness and change attitudes about environmental issues. In addition to the tree planting exercise, the HDC has also created green spaces in some of our housing communities and adopted sustainable approaches for housing construction. An example of these environmentally-friendly practices, can be found at Carina Gardens, Arima, and a number of our newer housing communities where the HDC has introduced grass pavers, a porous, eco-friendly option for driveways and parking spaces. Over the next year, the HDC intends to construct recreational/play parks in over twenty (20) housing communities and will incorporate green spaces as a key aspect of these parks.
The Green Key Initiative was formally launched on Friday June 28 when Minister Edmund Dillon; MP for St. Joseph, Terrence Deyalsingh and HDC Chairman Newman George, planted mahogany trees at the Mahogany Court, Mt Hope housing development. In July, Dillon, HDC Chairman, Newman George; HDC Managing Director, Brent Lyons; HDC vacation interns and students from Egypt Trace ECCE Centre participated in the second tree planting initiative at Oasis Greens, Chaguanas.
It is the HDC’s hope that residents will embrace this initiative and begin adopting more environmentally-friendly practices within their homes and communities. Between September and December, the HDC intends to implement this project in fifteen (15) more communities.
