Over 800 squatters regularised, relocated in 2021 — Min Croal

– says Gov’t has a strategy for upgrading, preventing squatter settlements

Over 800 squatters have either been regularised or relocated in the last year alone, with more than 750 squatters in Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice) benefiting from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government’s push to regularise squatter settlements.
This information was recently provided by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, who also lambasted the parliamentary Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), for its uninformed comments on Government’s squatting policy.

“Sometimes I think some of the members spend too much time in the ring, and not enough time familiarising themselves with the policies of our Government. Why else would the honourable member ask about the plan for squatting? It is public information that we have more than a plan, since, through parliamentary questions, it’s not enough for them.
“We have a plan; it is called ‘The Guyana Strategy for Informal Settlements’ Upgrading and Prevention. It is the PPP/C Government that started a comprehensive housing programme after taking office in 1992, and that programme included interventions for squatting,” Croal explained.
According to the Minister, Government has since created a database that compiles information on the various squatter settlements across the country. This is to ensure that Government has enough information to make targeted investments and interventions that can have optimum impact.
“As a result, we have regularised over 750 informal settlers in Regions 4 and 5 over the last year. We have relocated 59 persons squatting on Government reserves, and, in some cases, when it was necessary, we have even compensated. In the five years of the coalition Government, they relocated only 20 families from Broad Street,” Minister Croal related.
Since coming to office, the People’s Progressive Party (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 lands available for housing development. Those agencies are the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL); the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). Government intends to pursue land acquisition for housing development.
Last year, the housing sector received a total allocation of $8.9 billion in the budget. Of this sum, $6 billion was earmarked for infrastructure and utility works in new and existing areas. The Government, in 2021, 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 a more-than-$14 billion investment in the housing sector. In this year’s budget, 12.4 billion has been earmarked for infrastructural development in housing schemes across the country.
Minister Croal had previously also said that plans for 2022 include the distribution of 15,000 house lots and the continuation of the Home Improvement and Subsidy programme.
When it comes to core homes, Minister Croal had said last month that there are 50 core homes currently being constructed, with a few of those expected to be handed over in La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), soon. Additionally, core homes are being constructed in Sophia, ECD, as well as on the WBD.