– Prime Minister Hinds at event to distribute 1000 house lots    
SIGNIFICANT developments have occurred in several key areas in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) over the past few years. And these developments have all been achieved in a non-discriminatory manner, like housing, for instance.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds made this pronouncement yesterday while attending the Housing Ministry’s 13th ‘One Stop Shop’ exercise held in Linden, where approximately 1000 lots were distributed in the Phase Three section of Amelia’s Ward.
Hinds explained that, since Linden has always been an area of concern for the PPP/C, the housing programme will continue in Region Ten for as long as it is needed.
The Prime Minister said: “Linden has not been discriminated against. If you look at all the schools built, the new hospital, the water treatment plants that are coming; if you look at all of those, Linden has shared fairly in what we have. And we are not a rich country, far from it!”
Besides the foregoing, Linden residents continue to benefit from heavily-subsidised electricity which, according to the Mr. Hinds, is subsidised at over $200M annually.
Elaborating, he said: “This year, (the subsidy) is projected for the second time to hit more than $200M annually. If we spread this across the people (of Linden), in GPL we will probably be able to cut rates by 10 per cent, but here it is a 90 per cent subsidy.”
This subsidy is projected to increase as development increases, Hinds said.
According to him, the bauxite companies are also being pressed to do as much as possible in this regard. He revealed that negotiations are underway for Bosai to increase its operations in Linden, and for Rusal to also increase operations in Berbice.

HOUSING BENEFITS

Addressing the hundreds gathered at the One Stop Shop, Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali disclosed that, over the last seven years, the Government of Guyana and the Housing and Water Ministry have invested $2.1B in the housing sector alone.

This equates to a per capita investment of $52,500 for every single person in the area of housing, he highlighted.

Ali embraced the opportunity to point out that government had invested $500M for the development of Phase Three, Amelia’s Ward, and the house lots there were being sold at a highly subsidized cost.

He explained: “This is a subsidy of 323 per cent…We believe that this investment is best placed in the housing sector. We believe that you deserve this, and that you own the investment.”

He thereafter congratulated the beneficiaries of the One Stop Shop and encouraged them to take advantage of every social and economic benefit the housing drive provides. Moreover, he reiterated that the Housing Ministry’s allocation process is non-discriminatory and caters for all Guyanese.

“Today marks a very important day in your lives. You can all celebrate the fact that you have worked hard and you are on the road to owning something and improving your asset value. There are many people and politicians who, when we came to Linden, said that the process is discriminatory in nature. If you look here today, what is discriminatory about the process? 

“We have no apologies for coming to Linden and allowing you the opportunity to own your own land, because you deserve it! This belongs to you, this does not belong to the government or any political party, and this belongs to the people,” Minister Ali declared.

ACCESS TO FINANCING

Minister Ali explained to the allottees that the difference in pricing for the available lots is as a result of the varying financial capabilities of the residents.

Despite this, he assured that when it comes to accessing capital from the commercial banks for home construction, everyone will have opportunity to do so, as the government gave incentives to the banking sector for lower interest rates in exchange for them to relax the stringent conditionalities that attend the granting of loans.

On this note, he announced that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) would work along with the beneficiaries to devise a fair payment plan for the house lots.

“We have made it very clear that once you are in the system and you have an application, whether you are classified as a low, middle income, or professional person…we are not going to disallow you from owning that lot. We are going to ensure that the mechanism is put in place so that the payment can be made over time. We can even extend that period for the professional group. So I want you not to worry about that,” he announced, to resounding applause from the crowd.
Ali also implored the banking institutions to dispel the myth that Linden does not possess the economic wealth to service the loans, and he advised the banking institutions not to use that as a basis for judgment in granting loans to applicants.
He said: “The people in Linden are as aggressive in repaying and building as (people in) any other place in the country. We want the private sector on board with us in understanding this, and to ensure their policies are crafted in such a way that will reflect the specific functionalities of Region Ten – the peak season and off season.”
Minister Ali acknowledged that there are still a number of persons who have not received allocations in Amelia’s Ward, but he assured that the government remains committed to ensuring that they will also benefit, since works have already begun in Block 22 Wisrock, which, when completed, will make available a further 740 lots in Linden.
In closing, Minister Ali expressed gratitude to those present for their patience through the delays in the allocation process, and reaffirmed that government would continue to make investments in Region Ten, and in all the other regions, until the demands of all Guyanese have been satisfied.