…ensuring an inclusive, prosperous society
THE provision of equitable access to health care, housing, water, electricity, education and other social services is the foundation of a government’s promise to its citizens.
One of the most basic of these services is the provision of housing; adequate housing is also critical to the social, economic, and political stability of a country, as a viable housing sector can generate employment opportunities, improve public health, deepen the financial sector, provide a sense of ownership to the populace, and help develop complex institutions that provide benefits across many sectors of society.
Over the past five years, the Government of Guyana has invested $19.4B in the housing sector, an investment that has brought benefits to a total number of 184,000 persons across Guyana.
According to Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, the PPP/C Administration is not merely satisfied with the provision of affordable housing to the people, but also strives to ensure that all of the basic services are available with  housing development.
And so the emerging communities are equipped with health centres, schools, community centres, proper drainage, water, and access to electricity, all in keeping with the vision to ensure that citizens’ quality of life are improved.
Ali noted too that all of the programmes initiated by the Ministry of Housing and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), including the ‘One Stop Shop’ exercise, fall within the government’s wider scheme of ensuring that poverty is reduced  and programmes and strategies are developed that will bring direct benefits to the people of Guyana.
“Our strategy since 2006 was to approach economic expansion through the pro-poor approach, and this is ensuring that the poor and vulnerable in our society are given additional opportunity to ensure that issues of equality are addressed and to ensure that the gap between the haves and the have nots is not an extraordinary gap,” he highlighted.
In addition to creating more habitable and healthy communities, the programmes designed by the Housing Ministry also ensure that the emerging schemes are centres for economic growth.
With adequate infrastructure and services available, the schemes will then become magnets for private sector activity, as companies can trade goods and services efficiently, leading to formal sector jobs and additional growth.
Over 1.1 billion people in the world lack adequate access to safe water, nearly 2.5 billion lack access to sanitation services, and more than one billion people currently live in slums.
Through the Government of Guyana’s robust housing programme, these essential services are provided, and infrastructure is built and maintained to ensure an inclusive, prosperous Guyanese society.