Over 100 Sophia residents to get Home Improvement Subsidy, 50 to benefit from core homes
One hundred and eighteen (118) residents of Sophia, Georgetown will receive the Ministry of Housing and Water’s Home Improvement Subsidy valued $59 million under the Ministry’s Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP).
Another 50 residents will benefit from core homes valued at $200 million.
Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, MP, explained that the programme which targets low-income households, forms part of the government’s aggressive housing drive aimed at providing adequate housing for all citizens.
“Before the week is finished, we will be having a contract signing for a number of beneficiaries for our subsidy programme and we also have the core homes,” Minister Croal told DPI in a recent interview.
Under the home improvement subsidy programme, residents will receive $500,000 in the form of building materials for repairs to walls and floors, and for electrical works and sanitation improvement, among others.
All beneficiaries are individuals in vulnerable households, living in structures considered to be inhabitable. These include single- parent households.
The programme previously encompassed communities from Georgetown to Grove on the East Bank of Demerara, up to La Bonne Intention on the East Coast of Demerara and Westminster, Onderneeming, Recht-Door-Zee, Lust en Rust, and La Parfaite Harmonie Phase II on the West Bank of Demerara.
The ministry recently expanded the project to include 19 communities on the East Coast of Demerara, stretching the boundary to Victoria. Similar works will commence in these areas, as the programme continues.
The $US28 million Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme seeks to improve housing conditions and access to basic infrastructure for low-income communities. A total of 250 Core Houses will be constructed and 2,000 Home Improvement Subsidies will be disbursed through this Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded programme. Last month, over 140 low-income residents of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara signed contracts that will see them benefitting from core homes and home improvement subsidies.