Widow gets house lot after 20-year wait

– “the wait is finally over”- Vanessa De Nieuenkirk

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, February 19, 2020

A 20-year wait for a house lot has finally ended for one Berbice vendor.

Vanessa De Nieuenkirk was one of the hundreds allocated land at Experiment in Region 5 during the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA) land allocation exercise.

“It was 20 years of stress because every time I go, they would tell me come back… it has been going on like that for years, and finally, the wait is over,” an emotional De Nieuenkirk recalled.

The woman says she vends at the Bath Market or sometimes traverses the main road to sell her items.

She told DPI that she and her husband had applied for the land, but he was “not here to enjoy the fruits of his labour” since he had died.

An emotional De Nieuenkirk said, “I am happy that I got the opportunity and that I lived to get it.”

She added that one of her sons, who, is in the army, will help her build the home since she also cares for two adopted children.

“It is good because we would own our own house now. My children are big, and I have grandchildren so it would benefit us a lot,” she underscored.

More than 600 house lots have been allocated in Regions 5 and 6 so far this year.

Meanwhile, Minister with responsibility for Housing Annette Ferguson earlier this month noted that there were over 25,000 active applications for house lots in the CH&PA database.

She had reiterated the government’s commitment to solving the housing needs of its citizens and addressing the backlog of applications.