Housing, Lands and Surveys Commission to meet with Bare Root residents
DPI, Guyana, Friday, November 15, 2019
Residents of Bare Root, on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), are anticipating an outreach by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and the Guyana Land and Surveys Commission (GLSC). This exercise is aimed at bringing clarity to several issues regarding housing and land allocation in the community.
This follows a meeting chaired by Public Health Minister, Hon. Volda Lawrence was held in the community on Thursday. The minister has engaged the heads of these two agencies, and a meeting will be held with the residents at a date to be confirmed.
Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence engaging Bare Root residents
Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing, Hon. Annette Ferguson and GL&SC’s CEO, Trevor Benn were asked to make special considerations for the residents of Bare Root. The residents are facing challenges with the regularisation and finalisation of paperwork for house lots while others have applied for available lots in the community. In some cases, residents would have made payments for lands since 2005 and 2007, and are still awaiting the call to uplift their titles.
At the community meeting in Bare Root, Minister Lawrence disclosed that the CH&PA was already “on top of the matter” to address the same speedily.
“I was told that they started a process of verification and that the officers will be returning the following weekend to continue that process. Also, they are working with Lands and Survey because for example, there are persons who are presently residing on a particular lot, but their documentation in housing doesn’t have that lot listed,” she explained.
In addition to this, residents enquired about the unoccupied ancestral lands aback of Bare Root. Minister Lawrence explained that this too, is being addressed.
“His Excellency, President David Granger has asked that a Lands Commission be established so that all of these ancestral lands can be dealt with. The issue is not just [ancestral] lands that have not been occupied that there also cases with ancestral lands that have been occupied… So, I will ask Minister Ferguson when she is coming to meet that the Attorney General Basil Williams accompanies her so that he and Mr. Benn can better explain the matter of ancestral lands,” Minister Lawrence stated.