At Paradise deeding ceremony…
-full complement of roads by yearend
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo believes that even residents living in cooperative society housing schemes are entitled to Government assistance with basic infrastructure, and in the spirit of this premise, undertook to officiate himself in the formal handing over of the deed to some 181 new landowners residing in the East Coast Demerara village of Paradise. “Everyone of you have a right to get benefits from the State, whether you are in a cooperative or not. But it could get complicated; people should not be disadvantaged because of the legal issues,” he told the recipients, mostly women, at the handing over ceremony yesterday at the Paradise Nursery School, which is housed in a church building.
“I cannot allow any area in the country to be left behind because of it,” he said, meaning that he will do everything he possibly can to help surmount the legal hurdles. “I am aware of the issues surrounding this scheme for a few years now…I have friends in the Army who apprised me,” he said.
Noting that Angoy’s Avenue in New Amsterdam is in a similar circumstance, though not as identical as Paradise’s, as is Ann’s Grove, also on the East Coast, the President said:
“We tried a very long time to get the area regularized,” but there are court proceedings blocking the development of part of the community. “This is the final attempt we will make, and then we will go in and lay the pipes and build roads,” he said.
On the time it takes to write up judicial decisions, the President said he is looking forward to the full implementation of the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Act so that people can have speedy conclusion to their court cases. This, he noted, would be germane to the conclusion of land matters before the courts.
“We should be celebrating what you are doing,” he said. “Many of you have been disadvantaged by the process. We have a massive housing programme in Guyana, and it is still to meet the demand for all Guyana. It is part of our development strategy,” he said.
He said that with land ownership, people have a greater stake in the country. He spoke of the almost $5 billion worth of land government has purchased for the purpose of developing and making available 15,000 more house-lots between Providence and Mocha, on the East Bank, and the eventual joining of Diamond and Georgetown. “We have started to put plans in place for a four-lane highway up to Golden Grove,” he said.
Money has been set aside in this year’s national budget, he said, not only for the development of new housing schemes, but also for the upgrading of existing ones. He noted that there are schemes in which infrastructure still must be put in.
Speaking on the fiscal health of the country, the President said that Guyana has over US$800 in foreign reserves, and a smaller deficit. The latter, he said, is good for interest rates and exchange rates and as such, good for business and personal finances. He noted that over the years, mortgage rates have seen significant reduction from 35 to four percent.
Also adding his bit to what the President said, was Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali, who said that the concerns that came out of the various meetings were taken to the Cabinet, and that the President agreed to have an aggressive programme for the community.
“Water and roads were a concern, and we came up with an agreement that within three years, 24 roads will be developed,” the Minister said, adding: “There are some legal issues and some of these were cleared up,” and that in some cases, the land needed to be transferred.
As he hastened to explain, co-operative societies are self-governed, in that they establish themselves as a legal entity that does its own development, meaning that they receive payment on behalf of allotees. He said that when people pay between $400,000 and $600,000 for a house-lot, it is for the development of infrastructure.
“What has happened in, for example, this co-op, is that people abused the system. Some members of the society would have defrauded people; a lot of people disappeared. So a lot of the co-ops fell into disrepair,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Labour has the responsibility of monitoring co-ops, and has been doing this aggressively.
“That is why we are having a lot of these issues sorted out,” he said. Many people, he said, are coming to the Ministry of Housing expressing a desire to come out from under the co-op system. “We have completed 10 streets and two more [have gone] to tender. A total of 12 of them will be completed by the end of the year,” he said.
He said too that three additional streets have been budgeted for completion under the Ministry of Public Works and the Central Housing and Planning Authority, and that by the end of the year, 13 roads would have been completed.
“Last year I said we were completing interconnection on the East Coast,” the Minister said, adding that a new well has been dug, thereby increasing the capacity. However, he stressed that the network has to be completed first, and that it was estimated to cost in the vicinity of $60M.
Before the President spoke, the Minister had announced that the Guyana Water Inc would be commencing the installation of standpipes along the main roads, and that there were still a number of people who are yet to uplift their land titles. He said the titles give the residents empowerment and personal worth.
However, when the President spoke, he announced decisions which superseded what the Minister stated earlier. “I will ensure that we find the $60 million so that the entire community could get water. Rather than start with standpipes we will begin to lay the network,” he said.
But he also stated that because of limited resources, and the fact that road works usually come after the water network would have been completed, some of the roads will be placed on hold.
The President also gave a commitment to the construction of a nursery school in the community and asked for volunteers to run a computer training facility, for which the Government will provide computers.
The community will come together and decide on the location of the facility.
“I will make sure that [officials of the] Ministry of Education come next week,” he told the residents. “By September, children will have a nursery school,” he said.
One resident, Virgil Walker who received title for her land, thanked the Government for the promise of water to the homes. She said: “I feel proud collecting the title. Thank God for it.” She said that rather than approaching the commercial banking sector for a loan, she will be financing the building of the house on her own.