MORE than 21,000 families could now access loans because they have built equity in land titles, which would never have been possible prior to 1992.Expounding on the importance of the regularisation programme, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali explained that the Government of Guyana remains concerned about the well-being of all Guyanese, including those who are occupying lands in informal settlements and are under the regularisation programme.

Since 1992, when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was elected to Government, the problem of squatting was one of the major issues the Ministry of Housing and Water has had to address.
Regularisation of squatters in areas suitable for housing settlements was one of the pillars around which the new Government sought to address the problem of housing.

This project sought to embrace the overall policy of land divestment, wherein the Government adopted the sites-and-services approach in establishing new housing areas, along with providing and upgrading infrastructure in regularised squatting areas.

The Ministry of Housing and Water, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has, to date, regularised approximately 85% of squatting communities countrywide, and an ongoing plan is in place to continue regularisation; that plan is so designed as to continue until all the areas have been completed.

Minister Ali, alluding to some of the benefits of regularisation, noted that those included ownership of land by way of title; access to infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water; empowerment of communities by way of participatory planning for community improvements; and improvement in the quality of life.

The CH&PA will continue to regularise into housing areas the squatting areas which are compatible with the standards for development, in order to provide security of tenure and improved living conditions for this segment of the population.

The MHW has also announced that relocation plans for squatters who occupy areas that cannot be regularised will be activated to offer improved quality of life for current occupants.
(Rebecca Ganesh)