New multi-million dollar housing scheme for Region 6

– Residents to benefit from 1000 new house lots

By Michael Younge

Region Six residents are poised to benefit from the construction of a new multimillion dollar housing scheme at Phase Two Kilcoy/Chesney, which will see more than 1000 new house lots being created to meet the current demand.
The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) has approximately 2700 applications on file for persons who are desirous of owning house lots in the region.
Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali along with several senior officials of that ministry visited the area where the new housing scheme is to be established to examine the scope of works to be undertaken.
“This year we have embarked on an even more aggressive housing drive aimed at ensuring that all Guyanese benefit from becoming homeowners. We recognise that the demand for the commodity is increasing, and we want to ensure that we remain abreast with that demand by supplying Guyanese with affordable house lots,” Minister Ali declared.

Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali

Minister Ali said supplying more than 1000 house lots and creating this new scheme would be a promise fulfilled to the region. The housing minister disclosed that the scheme would vary in size and dimension as well as location.
“There is lots of work to be undertaken in a very short period of time,” he explained, noting that the allocation process should commence by November. “I believe we will be ready to allocate these lots by November 10 once we remain on track with our projected works,” the minister noted.
The housing minister said the provision of housing is critical towards meeting the developmental goals set by the current administration. According to him, the social and economic spill-offs will be of great benefit to residents.
“They are usually empowered through the provision of these lots. Most of them are now having this opportunity to benefit from such a transparent and easy process,” Ali explained.
Meanwhile, Central Housing and Planning Authority Financial Director Taslim Baksh said the government is subsidising the new housing scheme. “The investment being made is Gy$600 million… we may only be able to recoup between Gy$100 million and Gy$200 million from the sale of the land which is basically for those within the low income brackets,” the director noted.
He explained too that over the past few years, the government has injected some Gy$6 billion for the provision of housing in Region Six, and some Gy$1 billion is earmarked for development this year.
CHPA Chief Executive Officer Myrna Pitt explained that works on the new housing scheme are still at the initial stages. Pitt reported that the minister’s visit to Region Six was to enable the officials to have a first-hand look at the site and commence production of the design and layout work which would mirror the physical layout of the community.
During this phase, challenges would be identified and dealt with comprehensively as those could pose threats to the successful completion and implementation of the project. But even as the scheme is being developed, attention is also being placed on the drainage and irrigation layout, and contractor availability according to senior engineer Fazal Wahab.
Wahab explained that through the development of the scheme, focus will be placed on ensuring that all of the necessary construction and building materials are available in the region to meet the needs of the project contractors.
Due to the short contract time, some eight contractors may be employed to deal with separate aspects of the development.