1, 200 persons allocated house lots at ‘dream realised’ activity in Region Three

Some 1,200 persons fromRegion Three are now on their way to owning their own homes as the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) took its ‘dream realised’ house lot allocation exercise to the region on Friday.

The beneficiaries were allocated house lots in the low, moderate, middleand high-income categories in the Stewartville and Meten- Meer- Zorg housing schemes. 

Allottee, Nigel Singh commended the government for bringing the initiative to the region, which will allow many families to realise their dream of homeownership.

“We been waiting years for this opportunity, there are people who have been squatting for years, people who have been renting and the government recognise that if we can convert this rent into an investment and earn our own home, it will be a plus for our citizens,” he said.

Angelena Greene, who was allocated land after waiting for years, said she will now be able to provide a comfortable and safe home for her family.

“We are finally getting through with what we were waiting for a long time and I’m very happy so we can start our own home,” she told the Department of Public Information (DPI).

Delivering the feature address, Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal noted that Friday’s allocation will add to the 3,265 house lots already allocated in new housing developments. Some $3.4 billion was spent on infrastructure works in those areas.

Acknowledging the interventions of President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali in securing additional lands for allocation, he said, “an additional 1, 400 acres of land were identified and that is why we are able to have allocations like what we are having today.”

With this in mind, he announced another $4 billion earmarked for the development of 1,000 services house lots in Meten-Meer-Zorg, Anna Catherina, Stewartville, Leonora and Wales in 2023.

Further, in keeping with the administration’s vision of making homeownership affordable to all Guyanese, 50 core homes were constructed for vulnerable families in La Parfaite Harmonie, with an additional 125 more to be constructed soon.

Minister Croal also mentioned some of the mega infrastructural projects being undertaken in the region including the construction of a new four-lane highway from Schoonord to Crane, the new Demerara River Crossing,  the Vreed-en-Hoop port facility and the gas to energy facility at Wales.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues said the exercise will see a further reduction in the backlog of 14,000 applications in the housing ministry’s database. 

She noted that Region Three has the second highest demand for housing in the country and efforts are being made to meet that demand in keeping with the government’s manifesto promise of delivering 50,000 house lots by 2025.

‘While we have been focusing on reducing the deficit, we have an aggressive housing drive and as such, you will see housing construction in region three. This is a faster way of meeting the demand, we want to assist the process of homeownership…your government is working for you,” she affirmed. 

Several persons also received their certificate of title\transport after waiting for years.

CHPA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sherwyn Greaves, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Emmanuel Cummings and Regional Chairman, Ishan Ayube were also present at the event.