By Craig Harris and Dennis Wagner | The Republic
A Navajo Housing Authority plan submitted to federal regulators shows it will build just 15 new homes and an equal number of rental properties next fiscal year with a new housing grant of nearly $80 million, records show.
The NHA and tribal officials have said there is a need for at least 30,000 homes on the sprawling reservation that covers much of northern Arizona. However, The Arizona Republic over the past six months has documented failures by the agency to build sufficient housing despite landing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for that purpose.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and U.S. Sen. John McCain recently criticized the NHA for its lack of homebuilding despite being the largest U.S. recipient of federal dollars for tribal housing needs.
