5 more West Demerara families receive keys to new homes
Five families from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) were handed keys to their new core homes. The beneficiaries are Marlin Joseph of Westminster; Rupert Alleyne of Onderneeming; Shelly Alleyne, Paul DeSouza and Mohini Prashad of Lust-en-Rust.
One of the beneficiaries collecting the keys to her home from Housing Minister, Collin Croal
The homes were constructed under the Housing Ministry’s Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme which to date has handed over some 100 low-income homes to make vulnerable Guyanese families homeowners.
On Monday, subject minister, Collin Croal and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves presented the keys to the beneficiaries along with their electrical certificate and certificate of completion.
Croal noted that the parameters of the programme also include infrastructural works to ensure families have access to various amenities while adding that the ministry has pumped about $1.3 billion for the development of streets, drainage, lighting and other infrastructure in the area.
The Minister also highlighted that there were delays in the project which were subsequently ironed out and all of the beneficiaries for the core homes and housing subsidies have already been identified.
One of the units that were handed over on Monday
“The beneficiaries have all been identified already. We already have the baseline. So, it’s just to implement now for those beneficiaries,” he stated.
It was noted that the implementation of the programme in the region not only provided residents with new homes but also simultaneously resulted in Job creation and stimulation of the local economy as the ministry handed contracts to small contractors in the region.
With an investment of over $340 million being made in April, some 63 two-bedroom low-income houses are under construction in Anna Catherina while another 25 are under construction at Meten-Meer-Zorg.
A total of 172 houses have been awarded for construction at Groeneveldt, Leonora, WCD and other areas.
The minister further noted that the contracts for these projects were awarded to small contractors within the region which has resulted in an increase in employment opportunities for residents.
The Core Home Support initiative falls under the $5.8 billion Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AH&UAP), funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Each home costs close to $5 million and consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and washroom facilities with beneficiaries only required to contribute $100,000 towards construction. These homes were designed to meet basic standards that a family can move into and affordably expand over time.
