SOME 600 more families were yesterday allocated house lots as Citizens Bank announced that it has set aside $2B for loans to build houses and more private sector firms linked with the government’s massive housing drive for which it has earmarked some $4B this year.
The government’s plan envisages some 17,000 more house lots will be allocated by 2012, and Citizens Bank, along with Republic Bank (Guyana) and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) are providing more loans for building houses. The New Building Society is also a major partner in the housing programme.
Hardware companies, National Hardware and Global Hardware yesterday became the first firms to join the fast-track house lot allocation outreach by the Housing and Water Ministry.
Additionally, some new initiatives to develop methods that would improve efficiency and expand the level of service, including faster processing of transports, were introduced as the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) continued its `One Stop Shop’ outreach programme, which saw a massive turnout at its Brickdam, Georgetown base.
Unlike some other countries where people are losing homes, President Bharrat Jagdeo at the ceremony yesterday declared that he was proud of the expanded housing programme here.
He pointed to what is happening across the developed world, with the cutting of wages and salaries, social programmes and other setbacks.
“I am proud that we didn’t pursue the same model that they sought to lecture us about, and because we didn’t pursue the same model, today, we are not facing bankruptcy in our housing sector, we are facing an expansion. More and more people are owning homes,” Mr. Jagdeo said.
Conceding that it is a partnership, the President took the opportunity to commend the commercial banks “for this bold step in reinvesting in our people.”
He also commended Housing and Water Minister, Mr. Irfaan Ali and his staff for the energy they have brought to this task.
Ali said if anyone in society doubts the government’s commitment and the partnership with the private sector, representatives of the banks would have erased those doubts completely.
He pointed to the confidence that the banking sector has in the economy and the country as a whole.
Alluding to the President’s target of ensuring that 17,000 house lots are ready in an aggressive manner for the people of the country, he noted that various partners were necessary, and “today, we have come a long way.”
President Jagdeo recalled that last year, about $27B was allocated for mortgage financing, and noted that the government has set aside another $4B to support the ministry’s housing programme.
“We are making these changes, and I anticipate that sometime in the future, because this country has enough for every single Guyanese, that every person would own his/her own home, and that is what we are aiming for,” he said, adding: “Our work will not end until we make that dream a reality. And it is not just about getting house lots ready; it is about the full package.”
Yesterday’s outreach followed the first for 2010 in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) last month, and saw the allocation of the 600 house lots in Onderneeming Phase II, West Coast Demerara, and Section “EE” Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara; and the processing of titles and certificates.
Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited’s Managing Director, Mr. John Alves, GBTI Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Tracey, and Citizens Bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Eton Chester, all assured that they fully support the expansive housing drive by the government.
Chester announced that Citizens Bank has taken a decision to set aside $2B which it will lend to new home owners under the ‘mortgage lenders’ agreement.
Mr. Jagdeo noted that the allocation of a house lot “marks the beginning of a dream; a dream of owning your own home, of advancement, of progress at the personal level, and this is very important for me.”
A country cannot develop in the abstract and just through macro figures, he said,  “because that type of development would mean very little.” It has to be an aggregation of wealth of individual families, he said, and the primary task of the government is to ensure that they facilitate a process of creating and building wealth at the level of the family, which “starts often with a very small step.”
As he observed: “Sometimes, we become obsessed with morbidity, with rumour mongering. Many of our newspapers focus only on that every day, and sometimes, it becomes a national pastime. Sometimes, we fill our lives with other people’s dreams so that is why we talk about them all the time.
“We need to start filling our lives with our own dreams, dreams of making progress, building things for ourselves, owning things, having a legacy to give to our children, providing a better environment for them.
“And I want every family, every person in Guyana to do that and then we are not going to be focused so much on the negativities, because negative thinking keeps you down and you always have to be positive about everything and then things happen.”