Pres Ali announces $1M each for 600 landowners in Lethem to push housing drive

– $1.2B additional financing available from commercial banks

With the Government aggressively pushing its housing development across the country, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Friday announced that some 600 landowners in Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) will be getting $1 million each to assist them with constructing their homes.
President Irfaan Ali and a team of Cabinet Ministers travelled to the Region Nine township for an outreach.

While addressing residents at the Tabatinga Sports Complex in Lethem, the Head of State pointed out that his Government is committed to ensuring that hinterland communities are developed on par with those on the coastland.
He reminded that the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had campaigned on making homeownership easier – a promise they intend to fulfil to improve the lives of persons in the region.
Against this backdrop, Ali announced that the Government will be giving out $600 million to ensure that people move from landowners to homeowners.
“…Starting with the persons who have the lots, 600 [of them], the Government of Guyana will, with immediate, effect give $1 million to each of those allottees to do construction,” the President revealed.
The Head of State explained that in coming up with this initiative, it was found that the cost of constructing the model of a house that is typically used in the region amounts to approximately $3 million.
With the Government already investing $600 million, the President went on to disclose that this will be further boosted by additional financing from commercial banks.
“We were able to sit down with two banks – GBTI (Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry) …and NBS (New Building Society). And without any collateral, without the job letter, they have agreed that they will finance the remaining $2 million at 3.5 per cent [interest rate] – the lowest in the country,” the Head of State further revealed.
He outlined that beneficiaries of this initiative will be required to repay the bank’s rates as low as only $14,000 monthly.
According to President Ali, these two initiatives alone amount to some $1.8 billion in investments being plugged into the housing drive in Lethem.
“Think about what that will now do for the businesses. And we have also attached a condition to this …that all the materials and the labour must be procured locally. So the businesses will benefit, the communities will benefit, the labourers would benefit, the skilled workers would benefit, the block makers would benefit – you all will benefit as a result of the investments the Government is making.”
“We told you that you will benefit from the revenues of this country when some said that you must not be part of it. You will benefit, you will get the delivery of the Government,” the President contended.

House lots distribution in Lethem
These measures announced by the Guyanese leader on Friday were lauded by residents in Region Nine, many of whom are first-time homeowners.
Meanwhile, Junior Housing Minister Susan Rodrigues, who is also in Lethem, disclosed that the Ministry has been able to better serve the needs of Region Nine residents in both the housing and water sectors since establishing an office there.
Minister Rodrigues further disclosed that from 2020 to now, her Ministry, through its Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), has distributed some 400 house lots to residents in Region Nine and has already spent over $669 million for related works.
According to President Ali, no other Government has done as much for the hinterland and its people’s development as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
He pointed out that in addition to these two new measures, residents in the region will also benefit from other measures the Government has introduced.
“So, if you are building your home and you have your lot allocated to you. And you’re building a low-income home or a young professional home then you will benefit from the cement and the steel that we’re giving [out free],” he stated.
This, the Head of State added, is in addition to other measures tailored to benefit hinterland communities including the hinterland housing programme, the hinterland home improvement project, the hinterland sanitation project in which the Government is setting up septic tanks for households, as well as the programme that is targeting roof replacements in hinterland communities.
He further noted that “we’re building complete concrete homes. And we have communities in this region that are already benefitting or would have already benefitted from this programme”.
Only last month, President Ali announced a special housing initiative that will see Government construction of homes for landowners at varying values with easy financing through the banks.
This is in addition to measures previously rolled out including the distribution of free building materials and slashed interest rates on bank financing for homeowners along with the removal of VAT on certain construction materials such as cement, sheetrock and concrete boards.
Friday’s meeting in Lethem was the first in a series of similar engagements that the President is scheduled to hold in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region over the weekend.
In addition to Minister Rodrigues, the Head of State is also accompanied by Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall and other officials.