Housing Ministry committed to distributing 10,000 house lots in 1st year of PPP/C’s rule

The Housing Ministry will be moving towards the distribution of 10,000 house lots over the next year – one of the promises in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) election manifesto.
This is according to Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal. He told Guyana Times that in relation to his Ministry, the 2020 Emergency Budget that the new Administration would be presenting to the National Assembly on Wednesday would focus on emergency and preparatory works.
“This budget is an emergency budget and so focus is just trying to take care of this year and to start the planning for next year.”
This, Minister Croal noted, will include the development of lands for housing initiatives.
“We want to start the working in a number of areas in terms of land development for housing… This will go towards our ‘50,000 house lot distribution’ initiative and of that, 10,000 house lots will be distributed within our first year in office,” he stated.
According to Croal, his Ministry will also start the process for housing development to cater for professionals as well as regularise squatting areas.
Since his appointment last month, the Housing Minister has already made it clear that there would be a strict zero-tolerance policy against new squatting under the PPP/C Administration and that this Administration would be working towards ensuring existing squatters have a housing unit at the appropriate time.
Croal had previously disclosed that there was a backlog of some 68,000 housing applications, which he inherited from the APNU/AFC Government. He noted that the handling of house-lot distribution saw new applications being favoured over existing ones thus contributing to the backlog.
Nevertheless, he assured that there would be a more transparent allocation process.
“When we re-issue our policy for the allocation of house lots, you must be able to have a fair, transparent process and to recognise the persons who have been waiting long in the queue,” Croal said during the interview.
Moreover, he went on to say that the Housing and Water Ministry would also be embarking on partnerships with the Private Sector to expand and further develop the housing sector and to secure capital for investments.
Additionally, the 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.
According to Croal, the Housing and Water Ministry under his tenure would adopt a holistic approach to improve the housing sector.
“For us, the mandate at the Ministry of Housing is not just about sharing an allocation or a lot, it’s about having a hybrid system… you can have [house] lots or you can have housing…it is also important that you have the road, the bridges, the water and electricity,” he noted
Meanwhile, the Ministry’s upcoming budget will see focus placed on addressing immediate works in the water sector, primarily for hinterland communities. Only Saturday, Minister Croal was part of a ministerial team who met with residents in several communities along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
Coming out of those engagements were issues affecting residents that relate to water distribution and accessibility.
He said there were concerns about “the distribution network because a lot of those areas are settlements, are not regularised areas. Then, there are some established areas like Yarrowkabra and Kuru Kururu and so on, their issue with water is for improved access”.
Regarding land, Minister Croal revealed that they would have to relook at the entire Linden-Soesdyke Highway in terms of zoning.
“In the long term, we will have to look at accommodations and setting up proper communities for the future so that we can have resettling done… My Ministry in conjunction with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission will be looking at the Soesdyke Highway in the context of zoning and regularisation,” the Housing Minister stated.