The Housing and Water Ministry has managed to allocate 3500 house lots since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic took office four months ago – which is half of the amount that was issued during the last Administration’s five-year stint.
On Friday and today, another 1800 will be issued through the Ministry’s “Dream Realised” initiative, in collaboration with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA). This is in an effort to reduce the backlog of 70,000 housing applications in the system.
Ministers Collin Croal and Susan Rodrigues with some individuals who recently acquired land titles
Scores of applicants went to the Guyana National Stadium to secure their titles, as private insurance companies, contractors and banking agencies also participated to assist stakeholders. Lands were allocated in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal said these initiatives bring people closer to owning a home, despite challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many of you have been waiting all these years for an allocation and I’m sure along the way you were frustrated at the time which it has taken…Indeed, we have to make up for the lost time and keep pace with the demand for housing by our citizens. So, despite the challenges that COVID-19 has brought, our Government has a mandate to meet its target of allocating 50,000 house lots over the next five years,” Croal stated.
A woman pulls a lot number during the “Dream Realised” housing initiative at the Guyana National Stadium
Meanwhile, also speaking at the launching ceremony on Friday, Minister within the Housing Ministry, Susan Rodrigues shared that they would have inherited operations with no strategic housing policy. As such, work begun immediately to kickstart the distribution of house lots, as well as restore lost confidence in Government.
“All of the odds were against us when we took office in August of this year. People had lost confidence in Government. People had lost confidence in the Ministry of Housing because of the previous Administration’s own admission that hey only allocated 7000 house lots in five years. In our first four months in office, we have allocated half of that,” the Minister highlighted.
Minister within the Housing Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, listening to the concerns of one of the many persons who attended the “Dream Realised” housing initiative on Friday
The new Administration is seeking to allocate some 50,000 house lots in its first term, which will amount to 10,000 per year. Rodrigues once again committed Government’s assurance in fulfilling this mandate.
“Now is the time for action and delivery…and assure that you made no mistake in electing our Government into office,” she asserted.
More than $1 billion will be injected into the Region Three housing sector in 2021 through an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded project. Funds were committed for La Parfaite Harmonie, Onderneeming, West Minister, Recht-Door-Zee, Lust-en-Rust and Schoonord.
The IDB project, which is slated to commence in January 2021, will target infrastructural elevation in existing housing areas to make them more appealing to prospective homeowners and create more sustainable communities.
Minister Rodrigues had disclosed earlier this month that the works would cover the construction of three playgrounds and 50 core houses and at least 500 subsidies would be granted to qualifying prospective homeowners. Additionally, she noted the inclusion of light-emitting diode (LED) lights aimed at enhancing safety features in the communities, road construction, and upgrades, as well as water distribution networks.
Also, on the Ministry’s agenda for housing development are expansion and upgrades of existing housing areas including Stewartville, Edinburgh, Anna Catherina, Tuschen and Zeelugt. Further, Region Three is also set to benefit from a US$100 million water treatment project for which the Government is securing funding. That should increase water treatment capacity on the coastland from 52 per cent to 90 per cent. (G12)
