Scores of EBD residents apply for core homes, home improvement subsidies

Residents along the East Bank of Demerara, turned out in their numbers on Friday morning, at the Diamond market Tarmac, to take advantage of the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP) being executed by the Ministry of Housing and Water’s- Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA).

Low-income residents had the opportunity to apply for core homes and home improvement subsidies. On the spot interviews were also conducted.

Minister of Housing and water, Collin Croal, M.P and Minister within the Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, M.P, were present at the outreach activity, assisting persons with their application process and responding to queries.

Minister Croal explained that the outreach was aimed at ensuring persons who fall within the boundary of the project benefit from the initiative. It is for this reason the ministry also extended the deadline for the application to February 25.

He said once a person completes the application process for the Core Home and Home Improvement Subsidy, they are placed on a list which allows them to pre-qualify for the programme.

“Once they finish the interview and pre-qualify, then they become eligible. After that, the large list will be prepared of all the persons who are eligible and then it goes through the final process of cutting down the amount which we can process. So, for example, we have another 200 core houses to be constructed, we cut down to that amount,’ he explained.

Providing an overview of the project, Minister Rodrigues said the programme has garnered tremendous response from citizens. So far, she said the ministry has allocated 50 of the homes in Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara and another 50 at Sophia, Georgetown. A total of 354 home improvement subsidies of $500,000 each, were also distributed to residents in those communities.

“We have 2,000 home improvement subsidies that we have to distribute so we have a lot remaining and similarly for the core home support,” she said.

Minister Rodrigues said the programme ties into the government’s affordable housing programme.

“We are making it a priority to ensure we distribute more low income lots because the majority of the applicants that we see on a daily basis are in the low-income bracket. So, we are building hundreds of low-income homes across the country to promote homeownership,” the minister noted.

The core home support aspect affords families a chance of receiving a brand new 20ft x 20ft two-bedroom concrete home for a contribution of just $100,000, while the home improvement subsidy enables persons in the target boundaries to receive up to $500,000 in materials to upgrade their homes free of cost.

The boundary currently encompasses, the La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Development in Region Three; Georgetown to Grove on the East Bank of Demerara, Region Four; Georgetown to La Bonne Intention and 19 other select communities on the East Coast of Demerara, Region Four. The outreach programme will be taken to Roxanne Burnham Gardens on Saturday, targeting persons within the East, West and North Ruimveldt, as well as Tucville, Georgetown.