Under its flagship ‘Dream Realised’ initiative, the Housing and Water Ministry on Friday allocated some 500 house lots to residents in Bartica and surrounding areas in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Housing Minister Collin Croal assisting a Bartica resident with his house lot allocation
The Central Housing & Planning Authority (CHPA) held the 2025 Housing Drive at the Bartica Community Centre Ground, where hundreds of residential lots were allocated.
“We have, today, another 500 [house] lots available for the persons in the system. And when you check our pending applicants for Bartica, it would show about close to 900 applications,” Housing Minister Collin Croal stated at the opening of the ‘Dream Realised’ exercise on Friday morning.
Bartica residents being tended to during Friday’s Housing Drive
According to the housing minister, some 132 house lots have been distributed to date in Bartica under the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
In addition to house lots, the ministry is also constructing over 50 homes in Bartica – some of which were also allocated during Friday’s exercise.
“We have 40 houses that are nearing completion, and in January of this year, we awarded [contracts] for 15 more. So, in total 55 houses [are being constructed] for here in Bartica, of which some persons would be allocated today who have pre-qualified based on their assessment with the banks. And so far, I think we have close to 20 and [more could] be added because I think the banks would be able to assess you on the spot,” Croal stated.
These houses are being built by contractors from Bartica, which the minister outlined, provides employment opportunities for residents.
At Friday’s housing drive exercise in Bartica, representatives from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) and Citizens Bank were on-site to provide financial guidance and assistance. There were also teams from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to assist with water service inquiries, and Hand-in-Hand Mutual Insurance to offer coverage options for the prospective homeowners.
In keeping with its manifesto promise of delivering 50,000 house lots in five years – 10,000 annually, some 41,849 residential lots were allocated as of Friday – a figure that is now further bolstered with Friday’s allocations in Bartica.
Minister Croal explained that in the last week alone, approximately 994 lots were distributed in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
In addition to the residential lots and housing units, another 20 families also received vouchers on Friday under the Cement and Steel programme to support the construction of their homes.
Moreover, over 30 Certificates of Title were also distributed for previously allocated lots.
According to the Housing Minister, housing development has always been a priority of all the PPP/C Administration, and under the current government, focus was placed heavily on home ownership, especially among the young population, and supported by the series of initiatives rolled out by the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government. He said no other governments could compare to what has been achieved over the past four and half years.
He added that apart from house lots distribution, government has also been ensuring that adequate resources go towards the development of new and existing communities.
In fact, the more than 41,000 house lots allocated to date has seen over 70 new housing areas developed. In Bartica alone, there were new housing areas established.
At Five Miles Phase 1, the infrastructure development has been completed and persons now have access to their lands, which they have already been shown.
At the Phase Two extension, where the lands were awarded during Friday’s housing drive, three contracts were recently approved to be awarded to Bartician contractors for infrastructure works there.
For the third housing area, the tender was already issued for $1.1 billion of works to be executed there and the bids are currently being evaluated.
“[At] all allocations that are being done now and will be done throughout this year, all the allottees will be able to access and [occupy] their lots by the last quarter of 2025 – all,” the minister noted.
To date, in excess of $2.5 billion have been spent to develop these three new housing areas in Bartica, and according to Croal, more monies have been allocated to ensure adequate infrastructure are in place.
“Another close to $500 million has been invested for where the housing areas (are). So, we’re talking about, on the infrastructure side, $3 billion [expended] right here in Bartica alone,” he added.
In addition to these work by his ministry, Minister Croal also disclosed that the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) has also been doing work in the region. And after surveying exercises, some 128 lots are expected to come on stream at the Mora Camp area.
