Region 2 outreach resolves hundreds of housing issues

More than 600 residents of the Essequibo Coast had their housing matters resolved as the Ministry of Housing and Water’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) wrapped up its two-day outreach in Anna Regina, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on Saturday.

Persons were guided through the application process for land, able to update their information and sign up for land titles and agreements of sale. A number of persons also received their land titles/transports after waiting for years.

Minister within the Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, M.P, who led the outreach which was held at the Anna Regina Town Council compound, said the activity was successful as many of the age-old issues were resolved.

“The difficulty with Region Two, you had titles that were mixed up, you had persons living on lots and had a title for another lot, so it was a lot of complex issues that took years to resolve, but we were able to come here with the right strategy and the right approach, bring all of our personnel here, bring all of our equipment here and invite everyone to come and resolve their matters. In a matter of hours, the staff really worked hard, and we were able to achieve what we set out to achieve,” she noted.

The minister said the activity also highlighted some of the weaknesses within the regional system. To this end, all systems will be put in place to ensure that the backlog of issues does not recur within the region, by strengthening staff capacity through training and regular monitoring.

“We recently invested in a regional housing office here. We have a building with equipment, but all of that will be useless if you don’t have competent and honest persons working … and so, training, constant oversight is needed in this region. We know how to fix the issues and we need to have people here to get it done,” the minister explained.

Minister Rodrigues stated further, that the government is investing over $1 billion in the housing sector in Essequibo this year. In fact, two new housing areas in Charity and Onderneeming are being developed and therefore it is imperative that the regional system functions effectively.

“We will have to make some tough decisions in this area…  because we will have to improve our services for the benefit of our people.”

Minister Rodrigues also spoke of the impact of such an outreach to the citizens, many of whom would have vented their frustration with the slothfulness of the system. It is also part of the government’s national outreach programme aimed at engaging residents at the community level on issues that will guide the administration’s programmes and policies.