150 Region Five residents receive ownership documents

Some 150 families of Region Five will soon be able to construct their houses in Experiment Housing Scheme, as they signed their agreements of sale to process their land titles.  

Experiment housing scheme has over 559 lots of which the beneficiaries were issued residential lots.

The outreach was hosted at the Guyana Water Corporation’s (GWI) compound at Fort Wellington, on Friday. 

The recipients can now use their titled documents to apply for a loan at the bank to aid with the construction of their homes. Also, the beneficiaries can capitalise on the steel and cement subsidy programme. 

Several beneficiaries expressed their elation and relief at receiving their documents, which will pave the way to commence construction of their homes. 

Mother of four, Arifa Khan of Bath/Experiment, who applied in 2011, described today as a life-changing opportunity for her family. 

“It was breathtaking. I was so excited when I got a call to come to see my title for my land. This is the first house and land for me and my family and I am very thankful,” Khan told the Department of Public Information (DPI). 

Another excited beneficiary, Sonia Nicholas Grundall who hails from Perth Village, Mahaicony noted, “It is one step closer to owning your own home. That makes me very happy because my entire family will be comfortable, knowing that we will have our own home.”

Beneficiary, Clifton Sobers, from No 9 Village, West Coast Berbice, commended the government for providing the land title to him. 

Sobers added, “I am so very grateful. I cannot express how much I am at this time…My next step is to start getting my property built on it and developing the area.”

Another beneficiary, Kennisha Alonzo who is also relieved, emphasised that she will be able to commence construction of her house. 

“I am tired of paying rent for so many years. My kids would feel very happy knowing that we have our own home and we don’t have to rent anymore,” Alonzo expressed. 

She also plans on taking advantage of the steel and cement subsidy programme. 

Beneficiary, Nolan Williams of Hopetown Village said his next step involves applying for a loan at one of the financial institutions to start building his house. 

Williams stated, “It will benefit us a lot because it is something we have been waiting for.”

Meanwhile, Minister Croal told the gathering at the distribution outreach, that as housing needs continue to expand countywide, investments for infrastructural expansion are ongoing in new and existing housing areas. 

Within the next 24 hours, Minister Croal announced that a notice would be published shortly to address allocations for all pending applicants who applied in 2019 and prior nationwide. 

Region Five, alone, has 2,852 pending applications for residential house lots, while Region Four has about 38,000 pending applicants. 

The government is currently working to acquire additional lands in various parts of Region Five. 

“We are very close to being able to acquire a portion of land that will allow us to allocate another 315 lots that will fall somewhere mid-range in the distance for Region Five. We’re working on that. And that should be part of our allocations for Region Five this year,” Minister Croal emphasised. 

To date, over 1,053 house lots have been allocated in Region Five. 

Minister Croal said that there are 325 lots in Burma, about 750 in Shieldstown and approximately 221 in Balthyock housing areas.  

The housing areas are heavily subsidised as the government is assiduously working to ensure homeownership is accessible. 

In Region Five, Minister Croal highlighted, “When you look at the Experiment, Burma, Shieldstown, and Balthyock [housing areas], we have $4 billion investment in infrastructure for the development of those areas and counting.”

Another $3 billion is being invested towards the construction of community roads there.  

The distribution outreach will continue tomorrow which will see over 100 persons receiving their ownership documents. Persons can also visit the ministry’s regional housing office to process their documents.  The minister was joined by the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves, Member of Parliament, Faizal Jafferally and others.