The Housing and Water Ministry has hosted another One- Stop- Shop exercise, which was held at the Blairmont Community Centre, Region Five, at which 281 house lots were distributed.
Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali
Speaking at the event, Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali said that the ministry, particularly the Central Housing and Planning Authority, is pleased that it is able to continue a comprehensive approach to meeting housing needs in Guyana. As such, he added, it is hoped that progress in the sector will continue and will be sustained long into the future.
“We would have invested more than Gy$92 million and a further Gy$25 million for electricity development, which will give us an investment of approximately Gy$450,000 per lot, and we have approximately 280 lots being made available here. Before this, we would have invested more than Gy$342 million between 2000 and 2011 with an investment cost of Gy$350,000 per lot,” the minister highlighted.
With regards to the availability of electricity in housing schemes that would have been completed, Minister Ali assured the residents that the ministry has already engaged the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the necessary resources were made available and the process is at the implementation stage.
Minister Ali indicated that the 2012 investment, particularly in West Berbice, is about Gy$60 million, and this excludes the new programme coming on stream, the Community Road Improvement Project (CRIP) that will see almost Gy$200 million invested in the region to upgrade old housing scheme roads, particularly in the Bath NDC.
He urged the allottees to work hard toward home ownership and to attend the upcoming Building Expo, to be held under the theme “Bridging the gap – transforming Guyana”, where they would be able to access information on all the local products, prices and contractors, hence they will get the best value for their money.
Regional Chairman Harrinarine Baldeo noted that, in Region Five, housing development commenced in 1996, and as a result a number of housing schemes have been established, including Experiment, Waterloo, Hope, and Mary Dam in Central Mahaicony.
He pointed out that while hundreds of house lots have been distributed, some are still not occupied. In this regard, he called for the beneficiaries to strive to occupy them as soon as possible.
