Annandale roads and drains will be rehabilitated – President Ali

– Says a number of residents will receive land titles before month end

His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali said that his Government will work on rehabilitating a number of cross streets and the drainage network in Annandale on the East Coast of Demerara.

During an impromptu visit to Annandale South and Annandale West this afternoon, the President interacted with residents, listened to their concerns and suggestions, and announced the infrastructure enhancements.

“We have to work on connecting this road back to the railway embankment. We have to look at the reserve and ensuring that the reserve area is kept and the road is completed because once that is done then you have direct access from the highway and the railway embankment that can be further upgraded. In addition to that, there are a number of cross streets in the Annandale area that we are looking to have local involvement in building concrete roads. So those are some of the things that we have seen.”

The Head of State said that in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Water, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority there will be an assessment done and a drainage plan devised.

He reminded that the embankment road, from Sheriff Street to Unity will be upgraded to a four-lane highway.

“We have to now clear all encumbrances and get the drainage system going well, and that will bring tremendous value to all the properties.”

The Head of State pointed out that another issue the community is facing is the completion of their land titles. He said that approximately 50 households on the railway embankment will be titled by the end of this month.

CHANGES IN THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

President Ali also spoke about the modernisation of the country’s legislative framework and regulations. He said that the country’s current development trajectory will require legislative and regulatory changes.

“A lot of what we are doing requires legislative changes, regulatory changes, even the permitting process … everything has to be seamless, the regulations and legislation, the pace of development, infrastructure, the institutional capacity, the human resource capacity, all must work in a collective whole to give the type of output that we want.”

He explained that the Government is currently focusing on building out the country, on a private, public and individual level.

“The housing stock has increased by more than 80,000. With a new housing development that will take place, you will have 50,000 new house lots by 2025 that is from when we came in, in 2020, and I will say with the aggression that we are going after at least 20,000 new houses being constructed.”

The President said that this will result in high demand for skilled workers and contracting capabilities. He explained that this will have to be complemented by a “new culture” to do better documentation and contracts, among other things. This, the President noted, the Attorney General’s Chambers has been working on.

The Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, the Honourable Anil Nandlall; the Minister of Housing and Water, the Honourable Collin Croal; the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works; the Honourable Deodat Indar and a number of technical officers from their respective ministries were also with the President.

This is the fourth community the President has visited this week as part of his Government’s commitment to continuously engage residents across the country.  Earlier in the week, the Head of State visited the communities of Den Amstel and Hague on the West Coast of Demerara and Tucville in Georgetown.