The announcement by the Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali that the mechanism to activate a revolving housing fund to assist low and middle-income families is expected to be in place by the first quarter of 2010 is very good news and is another tangible evidence of the government’s commitment to further push the already impressive housing drive which began after 1992.

The creation of the fund was first announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo when he delivered his Independence Day speech on May 25, 2009 at the flag-raising ceremony.

The fund will provide further impetus to the Ministry’s housing drive of expanding and improving access to low-income housing.

According to Mr. Ali the fund will assist persons unable to qualify for a mortgage to access the finance they need to construct their homes.

The first tranche of $400M, which represents 20 per cent of the fund, will be operated by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), and will increase eventually to $2B for continuous housing expansion.

“We are working on a mechanism to implement it. We have the manual and policy governing it, and as soon as that mechanism is completed the fund would be put in place…we are looking forward for this too…A lot of persons have great interest in it… This is something that we will seek to have done in the first quarter of 2010,” Ali declared.

The revolving fund is expected to target pensioners, single parents and persons who have suffered domestic violence.

To qualify for a low-income house-lot, a beneficiary analysis will be conducted by the Housing Ministry during an interview with applicants to determine access to funding.

It is heartening to note that the government has recognised that a large number of persons who have acquired house lots are finding it extremely difficult to build their houses, and hence the sensible move of establishing a revolving fund. It shows further that this government is having its eyes and ears on the ground and as such is able to identify the difficulties and restraints that ordinary people experience and equally important steps are taken to help them.

Some concern was expressed earlier about the large number of people who have house lots in their possession for appreciable periods of time but has not yet began to build their houses. Perhaps the financial difficulties which face many people, particularly low income persons, could explain why so many house lots still do not have houses on them.

The recent announcement by President Jagdeo that the loan ceiling at the commercial banks will be raised certainly will also help many persons to access finance to construct their homes.

Undoubtedly, housing development in this country has undergone a transformation because of the forward looking policies and programmes in this sector. Today the dream of every Guyanese becoming a proud owner of his/her home is becoming a reality. Never in the history of this country so many house lots and land titles have been distributed and more housing schemes are going u throughout the country.

Despite what the detractors and pessimists may say the reality is that housing development is a success story under this government. The scores of housing schemes and new houses being built on a daily basis is a testimony to this fact and this has not come about by accident but rather through a concern and commitment towards improving the welfare of all the people of this country-a guiding principle of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) ever since its formation 60 years ago,