The Government, in an effort of fulfilling its promise of distributing 50,000 house lots within the next five years, on Friday awarded 24 contracts to the tune of over $825 million for various housing development projects.
Ministers of Housing and Water, Colin Croal and Susan Rodrigues, along with other officials of the Central Housing and Planning Authority
During the simple ceremony, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal said that it is part of the Ministry’s approach to achieving its mandate of providing better housing opportunities for Guyanese.
Junior Minister of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues charged the contractors to execute their duties to the best of their ability to ensure that Guyanese can achieve their dream of homeownership.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves said the projects will see road construction and upgrades, land preparations, and several infrastructural works.
More than $1 billion will be injected into the Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) housing sector in 2021 through an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded project. This was announced last week by Minister Rodrigues.
President Dr Irfaan Ali had disclosed that the Government is currently working on a series of initiatives aimed at financing projects for the local housing sector. Among them, he said is the establishment of a Diaspora Housing Fund.
According to him, the Government is looking at other areas of securing financing for the housing sector. This includes efforts to raise some US$250 million for housing projects.
Additionally, the Housing Ministry will also be working with the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL); the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to pursue land acquisition for housing developments.
In October, the Government published invitations for Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from interested parties to finance housing development.
