A total of 30 moderate-income allottees were able to identify their lands at Cummings Lodge Housing Development with guidance from the Surveys Unit of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
This is in keeping with a recent commitment by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, to ensure that those allocated lands at the scheme can have access to their lands and commence construction of their homes, as infrastructure works move ahead.
New land owner Wynton Daniels
The excited landowners and their families stated that they were satisfied with the lands and the work of the Ministry and CH&PA.
One of the allottees, Phillip Khan, stated that he has been renting for several years now, and having his own land now puts him in a position to provide better shelter for his family.
“I am proud about the land that I got because I go through so many tribulations in life,” Khan related. He added, “I planning to build a house on it because I fed up paying rent and being insulted”.
An elated Khan and his wife
Another landowner, Wynton Daniels, shared, “I can finally say I’m at ease. This is mine [and] this is something that I will be able to pass on to my generations”. Daniels ecstatically reported that he will begin construction as soon as possible.
At the end of 2022, the Housing and Water Ministry reported that it has distributed more than its targeted 10,000 house lots for the year. With a plan of allocating 50,000 house lots in its five-year term in office, this translates to 10,000 per year.
Minister Croal shared that Government has already surpassed its annual target. “To date, we have allocated more than 10,000 in this calendar year. By the time we’re finished on December 31, we are hoping to end the year with a total allocation of 20,500.”
Since Government took office in 2020, the Ministry has started the process of establishing about 16 new housing areas across Regions Three, Four, Five, and Six. For just the East Coast, where seven of these schemes are being developed, some $10 billion has already been expended for the first phase of infrastructural works.
Surveys Unit of the Central Housing and Planning Authority assisting in the location of lands
Nevertheless, he contended, “Government has ensured that the commitments we have made to reduce the backlog in application for house lots are kept. To do this, we introduced more home construction to meet the demands of citizens and despite these key interventions, more needs to be done to improve the lives of our citizens.”
Apart from housing, strides are made to enhance the overall living conditions of persons across the region. Within the next 12 months, an estimated $13 billion will be invested in Region Four to provide a reliable water supply, expected to benefit 300,000 citizens.
Some 179 contracts are to be signed to the value of $5.9 billion for the upgrade of 257 roads, amounting 113,000 metres across Region Four in areas such as Eccles, Farm, Covent Garden, Herstelling, Prospect, Good Hope, Lusignan, Diamond, Non Pareil, Perseverance among others.
