– Housing Ministry gets Gy$4.4B
The Housing and Water Ministry has received a Gy$1.3 billion increase in the 2014 Budget which will see more housing schemes being developed, along with the new initiatives being adopted to improve the quality of water.
Some Gy$4.4 billion was given to the housing sector this year. This money will be directed towards the distribution of 5900 house lots and 4100 land titles to new landowners. Additionally, several housing scheme development projects will be ongoing at Eccles, East Bank Demerara; Diamond, East Bank Demerara; Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara; Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara; Bath, West Coast Berbice; Number 77 Village, Berbice and other villages.
The public-private turnkey initiative will also see another 100 homes being constructed, while some 50 police officers, nurses, and teachers will be allocated land. In addition, more than 1200 persons will benefit from the distribution of another 176 core houses, disbursement of 134 coastal home improvement subsidies valued at Gy$26.8 million, and an additional disbursement of 54 hinterland subsidies valued Gy$54 million.
In 2013, many strides were made in this sector with a Gy$3.2 billion budget. Much of the allocations were directed towards the hosting of some eight One-Stop-Shop outreaches which resulted in 4417 house lots being allocated and 5326 land titles processed.
Housing subsidies
Then there was the development of several new housing schemes, which were consolidated with existing ones thereby benefiting more than 30,000 persons. The public-private turnkey housing initiative was also a success and saw more than 90 single-flat concrete houses being constructed. While under the Young Professional Housing Programme, 55 homes were completed, exceeding the initial target of 48.
The Core House Pilot project resulted in 127 core houses completed, thus enabling some 580 persons to benefit from improved housing. At the same time, an additional 153 subsidies were disbursed under the coastal home improvement programme costing some Gy$30.6 million; hence, resulting in improved living conditions for another 627 persons.
The hinterland home improvement project saw 130 subsidies totalling Gy$107.2 million thereby allowing some of the most vulnerable communities access to affordable shelter.
The water sector was allocated Gy$2.5 billion which will be spent on the drilling, construction and completion of water wells in Cotton Tree, Hope, Mon Repos, Sparendaam, and Sophia. A portion of the monies will go towards the construction of a water clarifier and filter at Bartica and Eccles while upgrade works on service connections are expected to be done in East Berbice communities and Linden.
The installation of transmission and distribution mains will be done in areas such as Vergenoegen, Victoria, Crabwood Creek, Angoy’s Avenue, and Bartica.
In addition, two water treatment plants at Wisroc and Amelia’s Ward should be completed and will benefit more than 30,000 residents in Region 10. Water supply improvement works are also expected to be done in hinterland communities such as Waikerabi, Santa Rosa, Arau, Taruka, Kanapang, Kathur, Aishalton and St Ignatius. This will see some 20,000 residents benefiting.
With the soaring electricity costs, the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) is to complete a comprehensive energy audit and is expected to start with the implementation of initiatives that will see the replacement and re-engineering of the electro-mechanical features of its pumps and equipment, to be on par with modern energy-efficient technology.
