Sustainable community project to be launched for low-income earners

As part of the many noteworthy projects the government has embarked on to date, a sustainable community housing programme featuring renewable energy and agriculture will be launched soon.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, during a recent engagement with the media, noted that the community will be constructed on 20 acres of land, with a state-of-the-art greenhouse in the centre. It will be powered by solar panels.

“Young, low-income homeowners are going to live within that plot. They are going to do high-value crops, that will help them repay their loans,” he explained.

The houses will also feature solar panels on the roofs to generate power throughout the day, in keeping with the sustainable theme of the community.

“This is a new approach. This is an area that I find tremendous joy in planning…So that is a new design that you will see that we are coming up with in a pilot, and we are going to start that before the end of the year,” President Ali said.

The government, since entering office in August 2020, has overseen the installation of solar PV systems on government buildings, as well as the commissioning of solar farms in Mabaruma, Bartica, and Lethem.

This has taken Guyana’s solar capacity from just 5.35 MW in 2020, to an estimated 17.2 MW this year.

These are not the only sustainable initiatives, as hydro and wind power projects are being explored and constructed, and options are being explored for the production of high-value wooden products to reduce deforestation and dependence on raw timber for exportation.