Over $14B invested in housing sector in 1 year – Teixeira

– infrastructure works underway to construct 6000 housing units

The Government of Guyana has so far processed close to 2000 titles and transports in its first year in office, while starting construction on 1000 houses and conducting massive infrastructural work… all part of an over $14 billion investment in the housing sector.

These figures were provided by Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira , during an address to the National Assembly on Tuesday. According to Teixeira , the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government has invested more than $14 billion into housing since their return to office.
“Housing, critical to people’s welfare. The Government restored the housing programme and more than $14 billion has been invested so far. Housing has processed almost 2000 titles and transports,” the Minister said.
Teixeira also noted that the Government has “commenced construction of almost 1000 low, moderate and professional houses. And the process of designing and implementing infrastructure works to see the allocation of another 10,000 in the coming year.”
On Tuesday, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal also provided details on the construction of housing units, through written replies in the National Assembly to questions posed by the main Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC).
With the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) awarding $13.9 billion in contracts for infrastructural works back in March, the Opposition had asked him when are infrastructural works slated to begin. In his reply, he had said that infrastructural works for housing units in Regions Three, Four and Five had started in April.
He had also explained that 5000 housing units would be built in Region Four, in areas such as Grove, Great and Little Diamond, Prospect, Providence, Cummings Lodge and La bonne Intention (LBI).

Meanwhile, 500 units will be built in Region Three in Edinburg, Anna Catherina, Stewartville and Meten-Meer-Zorg. A further 500 units will be built in Region Six in Hampshire, Ordinance Fortlands and Williamsburg.
Additionally, the Minister had provided a breakdown of the prices for each unit, inclusive of land. For the Low-Income units, the price would be $5.5 million. For Moderate Income units the price would be $7.5 million and for Middle to High Income units the price would range from $14 million to $19.5 million.
Since coming to office, the PPP Government has made it clear that it is aiming to fulfil its manifesto promise of distributing 50,000 house lots over the next five years. The Ministry of Housing has also said it would work with other State agencies to make more land available for housing development.
These agencies include 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.
This year, the housing sector received a total allocation of $8.9 billion in the budget. Of this sum, $6 billion will go towards infrastructure and utility works in new and existing areas. This will pave the way for the allocation of over 10,000 house lots and 7000 land titles to citizens.
The Government has also gone countrywide with its Dream Realised house lot distribution campaign… an exercise that has so far distributed over 4000 house lots and over 500 land transports. In the Government’s first four months in office, 3500 house lots were distributed… an amount that was half the number of house lots distributed during the former Government’s five years in office.