37 low-income families to soon receive house lots in Balthyock

…Good Faith residents now have access to potable water

The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Friday awarded a contract to the tune of $20 million to Shereaz Bacchus General Contractors, to clear and provide basic infrastructure to the Balthyock Housing Scheme, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

The project will begin immediately, and, within two weeks, the authority will return to allocate house lots to 37 low-income families.
The scheme, which is located aback the Blairmont Sugar Estate, was initially developed with the intention of relocating informal settlers from the sea defence reserve under the agency’s relocation and regularisation programme.
In 2012, seven households were relocated from the reserve, and the households within the block were regularised. However, another portion of the area, comprising 37 lots, was not allocated due to the incompletion of infrastructure works.

Back in May this year, Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, visited the area and was briefed on the situation by residents. As such, she committed to the resumption of the project. CH&PA then commenced an inventory of the area to restart the programme.
“There are about fifteen households who are informal settlers, or what we know as squatters, still residing on the reserve, who will be relocated here in the scheme,” Minister Rodrigues stated on Friday during a visit to the area.
The Minister noted that this will significantly improve the lives of the informal settlers, as they will now have reliable access to potable water, electricity and other amenities, as well as certificates of title/transports for the first time.
Speaking to the allocation of the remaining twenty-two lots, she added, “Priority will be given to residents in the area who have existing applications in our system to be allocated.”
Permanent Secretary of the Housing and Water Ministry, Andre Ally, related that the area is in line for major housing and water development with the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. In this regard, he highlighted a $456 million housing project in Experiment, which will see land and drainage clearing and construction of access roads and bridges for allottees to begin occupation.
The Ministry is also undertaking projects in Number 79, Number 75 and several other areas.
Meanwhile, 20 households of Good Faith, Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) have obtained access to potable water for the first time in several years. This follows a commitment to residents made by Minister Rodrigues during a visit to the area in May this year.
“I made a commitment to them that we would extend the project and expand the distribution networks to allow for those twenty families to have access to water for the very first time, and today we were able to deliver,” the Minister stated on Friday.
In addition to this, she noted that the distribution networks would also be expanded so that incoming house lot allottees would have access to potable water upon occupancy.
Meanwhile in D’ Edward, remedial works to reposition an existing distribution network would commence in three weeks’ time.
After receiving several complaints, the Minister met with residents, who bemoaned the current situation. The residents are said to be receiving water from a network which currently runs through the property of other residents, resulting in a number of issues.
In bringing resolution to the issue, the Minister affirmed, “We have identified some resources to relocate this network, and we’re going to run the pipes and provide the households here with individual connections for the first time.”
This announcement was met with much satisfaction from the residents. Upon completion, some 23 households will benefit.
Member of Parliament Faizal Jaferally, CH&PA Director of Community Development, Gladwin Charles; Supervisor of Works, Mohamed Khan; and other regional and technical personnel were also present at the outreach.