CH&PA takes affordable housing programme to Stabroek Market Square

─ initiative will provide a better life for Guyanese – Min. Adams-Yearwood

DPI, Guyana, Friday, January 18, 2019

With the February deadline for applications closing in, residents of Georgetown and its environs today took full advantage of the home improvement subsidy and the core homes support, being offered by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

The team, including Minister within the Ministry of Communities Valerie Adams-Yearwood, met with the large crowd at the Stabroek market square this morning.

Minister Adams-Yearwood said the initiative, funded by the Inter-American Bank (IDB), will certainly provide a better life for low income earners and their families.

“Rather than we wait for them to come to us, we are coming to the people and that has always been a strategy of the Central Housing and Planning Authority,” she told the media.

The CH&PA’s target for the project is 250 core houses for persons earning a monthly income of $75,000 or less. Two thousand (2,000) subsidies of $500,000 each, will also be made available for persons who need to improve their living conditions.

“We are not giving the persons the money, we will give them the materials to do the home improvement, which means somebody can change their roof, zinc, change their toilet from an outhouse to building a septic tank etc. The bottom line is to give Guyanese a better life, we say the good life.”

The CH&PA intends to take its outreach to several other market areas including Kitty and Plaisance and communities such as “E” Field Sophia and Parfaite Harmony on the West Bank Demerara, in the coming days.

The government-subsidised programmes will target families with low affordability that have housing needs. The Core Home Support targets households living on lots valued $92,000 or less that were regularised or developed by the CH&PA. The concrete structure, of not more than 400 square feet, will be equipped with a sanitary block and will have the necessary electrical and plumbing installed

Once successful, the beneficiaries will pay a total of $100,000 for the homes, which will see further funding from the government. The cost of each home is $4M.

The application process comes to an end on February 1, 2019. Following this, there will be a period for scrutiny, which is expected to last for at least eight months. CH&PA will commence construction, immediately after the verification process.

Applications are being issued at the Mayor and City Council, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils on the East Bank of Demerara, the Region 4 RDC and NDC’s within that locale. The same process is available in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara).

Alexis Rodney

Images Giovanni Gajie

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