Berbice single mom gets new home for Christmas

A Berbice family will now be spending the Christmas season in their own home, as they were presented with a well-constructed and furnished house by the government through the Men on Mission (MoM) initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Water.

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, travelled to the community of Belvedere along the Corentyne coast in Region Six to hand over the house to the mother of six.

Also present was Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Omar Khan.

While cutting the ribbon, President Ali urged the family to take care of the home.

“We are very pleased this morning that we can be here to share this glorious moment with you and your six children. We hope that you know that the community is standing by you. You have a responsibility to the community and an even greater responsibility to your children,” the president stated.

The head-of-state encouraged the mother to explore the opportunities that the government has to offer to develop herself. He also urged her to ensure that the children remain in school to enjoy Guyana’s future.

“We have more than 350 families that will benefit from home improvement or housing . We have about 10 communities that will benefit from important pieces of investment in the social aspect…of their development,” President Ali underscored.

Additionally, he revealed that government will be launching a new programme under the MoM initiative in January, 2024, explaining that this is where communities will become more involved in various activities pertaining to education. The president believes that this undertaking will positively impact the youths in society.

Various private businesses also helped in furnishing the house for the family. They have also committed to providing educational necessities for the children to attend school.

With many houses already distributed through MoM and the housing ministry, Minister Singh said the government’s commitment of distributing 50,000 house lots is reaping success in the country.

“The story of providing shelter to Guyanese families is replicated a thousand times over. In fact, we have the good fortune of having a president who is a former Minister of Housing…We have someone who is more than acutely aware of how important it is for every single Guyanese family to have their own home,” the senior minister stressed.

Meanwhile, according to the Chief of Staff, the MoM initiative is an important aspect of the president’s vision to develop Guyana and its people. As someone who has been tasked with the responsibility to lead the initiative, Brigadier Khan said more work is slated to be done in the new year.