Some 360 house lots were distributed to Region Two residents when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH& PA) of the Housing and Water Ministry held yet another One Stop Shop exercise on Friday.
The beneficiaries received house lots at the Onderneeming Housing Scheme on the Essequibo Coast. Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali said the exercise was one of several held this year.
He reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring equal access for all to proper housing, pointing out that not only has the housing programme helped to increase home ownership, but it has also aided in the social and economic transformation of Guyana.
The ministry has already dealt with all applications from Region Two before 2013. Applications this year are now being looked at, and once a person meets the requirements, a house lot will be awarded.
Open governance
Minister Ali explained that the One Stop Shop is a demonstration of the ministry’s, and to a wider extent the government’s focus on open governance.
“Whatever we do, must be open to public scrutiny, dialogue and public criticisms,” he asserted. On that note, Ali urged the residents to report any case of fraud in the region, notably persons receiving house lots when they already own one.
Agreement
He said because of the successes of the One Stop Shop, the ministry has now placed a clause in the agreement of sale for land that states that anyone who misrepresents information in the application, especially when the person may be the owner of a land, advance payments will be forfeited.
Meanwhile, Ali noted that the One Stop Shop provides integrated services, whereby the new homeowners have access to banks, and hardware companies where they can get discounted prices. He encouraged the beneficiaries to make optimum use of these and other offers.
The minister also reminded the allottees about the first time homeowner policy that government recently introduced.
This policy provides rebates on taxes on interest paid on loans offered by various banking institutions.
Government has spent more than Gy$ 182 million on infrastructure at the Onderneeming Housing Scheme. This adds to the more than Gy$ 400 million spent between 2003 and 2011 in Region Two.
Together, these investments have created approximately 3500 house lots, benefiting more than 14,350 persons. Additionally, Gy$ 60 million was spent to upgrade roads in the old Onderneeming Housing Scheme.
Government has also set aside Gy$ 22 million for the provision of electricity, which will become effective once the occupancy rate reaches 60 per cent.
Investment per household
When the investment is broken down, it amounts to government investing Gy$ 536, 000 for every household, with a total expenditure of Gy$ 182 million, with only Gy$ 49 million in revenue.
This indicates that the scheme is subsidised to the tune of Gy$ 132.3 million or at a 72 per cent subsidy ratio.
Government spends some Gy$ 1.2 billion in the Region Two water sector.
