AFTER years of moving from community to community with her four children, 57-year-old Brenda Jones said she is more than happy to be living in her own home. Jones is among the beneficiaries of the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA) Turn-Key Home Project at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara.
While the first batch of beneficiaries had gained access to their Buttercup Cottages at a cost of $4.9M each ($4.4M for the house and $500, 000 for the land) in 2015, Jones received the keys to her two-bedroom house days before last Christmas.

“Girl, it was an act of God! I didn’t know what was the payment plan, but God is lovely,” Jones said, while explaining from the comfort of her verandah, that she is now paying a monthly mortgage. “It is reasonable,” she added.
Before moving into her Perseverance home on December 4, 2016, Jones had moved from South Ruimveldt Park to Albouystown, then to Plaisance before returning to South Ruimveldt, because of circumstances.
And though the house has a few flaws, Jones said she is pleased that the CH&PA is swiftly responding to the concerns being raised by homeowners in the area.
However, another resident, Paula Gibbs, on Sunday told the Guyana Chronicle that two years after moving into her Turn-Key home, she believes that the offer was unreasonable, contending that the cost of the house was too high.
“It is too small. It only has two bedrooms and so I may have to extend the house,” the 56-year-old single-parent pointed out.
Gibbs lives there with three of her four children, ages 28 to 22, all of whom have children, according to her.
In addition to complaining about the size of the cottage, Gibbs said she is dissatisfied that the house was not fenced before with it was presented to her.
“I think they could have fence up the yard. We get it just like that as though we are living on the street,” she uttered, while further complaining that the yard becomes muddy when it rains.
As she pointed out her plight, Gibbs noted that her bedroom ceiling once caved in on her; however, the CH&PA was quick to correct the structural defects.
BITTER-SWEET
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she was the first person to have benefited from the Turn-Key Home Project. For her, it was a bitter-sweet moment.
“I was happy to get my own home, but there were so many complications. The house had a whole lot of faults, for three months I had no light, because GPL didn’t have meters, and the cows, the cows have been a problem from day one,” she posited.
However, she said that from April 2015 to now, the situation has been changing for the better; but the distance and the influx of cows in the area remain some of the key problems facing residents.

For Clevon Alphonso, the biggest problem facing the occupants of turn-key homes is the invasion of cows in the area. According to him, approximately 200 cows would pass through the community on a daily basis.
Clearly upset about the situation, Alphonso said he had to rescue his neighbour’s grandson from being trampled by the cows, but then he too had to run to safety.
“The cows went into a woman’s yard; pull off all her clothes off of the line. Another woman, the cow went up on her verandah and lie down, when she opened the door, a big cow in front of her door,” he said, while complaining bitterly about the situation.
Alphonso said it was just Saturday that a nurse fell while trying to run from a cow that was chasing her. “She fell and dig out her whole knee cap,” he said.
DESTRUCTIVE
Additionally, he said the cows have also damaged their pipes and even his car, and though several complaints have been filed to CH&PA, it remains a problem today.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited the area, there were a few cows seen roaming the community, however, a large number were seen on a dam behind the stretch of houses.
The Turn-Key Home Project was part of the 1000-Home Project which was launched by the CH&PA in 2011 under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.
Construction of the houses had begun in 2014; however, it was only until 2015 that many persons had gained access to the them. The houses, however, were poorly constructed, and shortly after taking office in May 2015, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government had pledged to correct many of the structural defects linked to the poor quality of materials used.
One year after taking office as Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Adams-Patterson said millions had been spent to correct faulty works.
With a sense of accomplishment, the minister, at a recent press conference, said a total of 90 existing houses have been completed while remedial works were completed on 70 houses.
As a result, a total of 160 families are comfortably housed in these Turn-Key homes.