CH&PA issues RFI for consultants to assess land for housing, commercial projects

…as Govt continues push to open up new housing areas

Announcing that it is looking to explore the development of several parcels of land for residential and other uses, the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on consultants that could do geotechnical assessments of the areas.
Geotechnical investigations are done to assess the physical properties of soil before conducting construction work. This helps to determine whether said soil is sturdy enough to construct structures on, among other things.
According to the CH&PA in their notice, the RFI is to gather information on the available expertise, methodologies, technologies, and potential costs for conducting geotechnical investigations in areas it had identified for residential, commercial, and mixed-use development.
“To ensure the integrity and safety of these projects, it is essential to perform comprehensive geotechnical investigations… the findings from these investigations will contribute to effective planning and safe construction practices within the jurisdiction of the CH&PA,” it was explained.
The consultant is likely to perform site assessments, drill boreholes to collect samples, analyse said samples, identify any potential environmental risks. They may also be required to provide expert advice during the design and construction phases. Companies meanwhile have up to November 19 to submit their proposals to the CH&PA.

Cognisant of the need to expand housing development to meet the demand, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been doing just that. Back in August, it was revealed that within four years of coming into office, Government, through the Housing and Water Ministry, had developed a total of 67 new housing schemes across the country.
This was according to Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, who, during an appearance on the Guyana Dialogue, provided an update on progress made within the housing sector, and highlighted that from August 2020 to the current time, 67 new housing areas have been created across the country.
“From August 2020, when we came back into office, to now totals 67. So, 67 new housing areas have been created in the past four years. That (is) spread across the country, all of the regions. It’s a historic investment in the housing sector, and one that we are tremendously proud of,” she had stated.
This remarkable achievement, she explained, is a direct result of the Government’s housing drive, which aims to provide a total of 50,000 house lots to Guyanese citizens by 2025. Moreover, she revealed that during this year’s Building Expo, new housing developments were revealed for Regions Three (Essequibo Islands – West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica).

“The two regions that were allocated during the Expo was Region Three and some areas in Region Four. So, for Region Three, which is one of the newest areas, it’s at Wales. So, we have started our infrastructure work there, and there’s going to be thousands of people that will be allocated lands.”
The Minister had also spoken about the availability of land to develop new housing areas currently being somewhat of a challenge, noting that with Guyana’s rapidly growing agriculture sector, large sections of land are also being allocated for agriculture.
“And so, we continue to work on new housing areas; it is an ongoing effort to always identify land for housing, because we have competing interests for land. We have to make lands available for GuySuCo (Guyana Sugar Corporation, for agriculture, for farming; and we have to make land available for our housing programme. And so, we’re in constant negotiation with NICIL (National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited) or GuySuCo or Lands and Surveys for lands for housing development,” she had revealed.
The Minister had also noted that Government would continue to develop new areas, as more Guyanese are pushing to become home owners, due to various factors such as the high cost of rent as well as improved access to financing for citizens. (G3)