St Vincent purchasing 15 pre-fab houses from local company 

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in the process of purchasing the first 15 pre-fabricated wooden houses from Guyana, as part of the island’s rebuilding efforts after the volcano eruption in 2021.

The ready-made homes will be procured from Guyanese manufacturer Duravilla, which specialises in pre-fabricated homes and hardwood products.

The island’s Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves on Tuesday said financing is already in place, and arrangements are being made to have the one, two and three-bedroom houses delivered by March this year.

“We should within a few days be able to sign all the dotted lines with all the agreements,” he told the Department of Public Information.

Dr Gonsalves, who is in Guyana on a four-day state visit, toured the DuraVilla’s housing operations at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

He was accompanied by Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall and the DuraVilla’s Chief Executive Officer Rafeek Khan

“These houses, they’re quite elegant and they are also reasonably priced,” he noted.

The Prime Minister added, “I believe if you do the base properly, you will be able to have category four [hurricane] resistant houses.”

He believes that the policy of the Government of Guyana in relation to the private sector is encouraging the kind of development needed in the housing sector.

Dr Gonsalves and his delegation also visited the low-income homes and privately-owned DurvaVilla units in Great Diamond.

He described the government’s affordable housing programme as ‘impressive,’ and meets the housing needs of Guyanese.