Longstanding land issues to be addressed in Ituni, Region 10

Land titles will be processed by the first quarter of 2023 for residents of Ituni, Region 10.

Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, on Friday, assured the residents that the ministry is working to resolve the outstanding land issues within the community.

Notwithstanding this, Minister Croal has committed to addressing these issues promptly as steps will be taken to regularise the area.

The minister noted that the first attempt to regularise the area commenced in 2004 where some 70 land titles were processed.

Minister Croal explained that the processing of titles was placed on hold, “because what is on the plan does not match the reality on the ground…We have to fix this. We could not further process any more documentation for you to get ownership because we ran into problems. We will have to rectify this by starting from scratch.”

Moreover, a follow-up visit was done in December 2021 for the area to be surveyed.

Minister Croal said that through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), some persons were given allocations for particular areas in Ituni.

Some persons started occupying the government reserve, he stated.  

To this end, he informed the residents that a new plan will be done, since additional persons are occupying the area.

“This is my commitment to you…the first exercise to be done is to do a re-occupational survey. When that is finished, the plan will be drawn up in accordance with what is occurring on the ground. So, they have to widen the current plan. We have to check mapping against what is on the plan.”

The new plan will be funneled through the legal system and will be recorded.

Minister Croal has therefore committed that once that phase is competed, titles will be processed.

“We will come here and sign up all of those who did not get their titles and process your titles,” Minister Croal assured.

He noted that the team will revisit the area early next month to complete the occupational survey and plan. 

To this end, Minister Croal said “I am, therefore, committing to you with all of that timeline that they must fix those of you living in Ituni now, must fix this situation and this area by the end of the first quarter of next year.”

He implored the residents to cooperate for the process to be completed promptly.

For Region 10, Minister Croal highlighted that the ministry will be working on three clusters simultaneously.

The infrastructure work is ongoing for some 400 house lots which were allocated in Amelia’s Ward.

He related that when homes are built haphazardly, it is challenging to build a road network and other vital infrastructure, “when it comes to regularising an area, we must have an alignment where the road has to go.”

The minister noted that, shortly, a new area will be cleared to commence construction, in keeping with a commitment of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali. This forms part of the 1,000-homes initiative in the region.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to improving the standard of living of all Guyanese.

Residents raised concerns related to the pumping hours for water, cement and steel programme, land titles, and affordable housing.

Minister Croal said, “we’re trying to source a new engine that will allow you to have more pumping hours. That is in the immediate term.”

This is to provide additional service hours for water in the community.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region 10, Dwight John and technical officers of the ministry also attended the event.