1,000 lots allocated in $4.1B housing development
THE Ministry of Housing and Water, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), hosted its first ‘One Stop Shop’ for 2012 under the theme ‘Building Equity – Empowering People’. The activity, conducted as the government’s massive housing drive continues, was held at the Guyana National Stadium, where some 1,000 applicants were allocated house lots in that Providence, East Bank Demerara area, which is one of the Ministry’s most recent developments.
This initiative involved active collaboration among the CH&PA, Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), lending institutions, other Private Sector entities and building contractors.
Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali said, at the forum: “It gives me great pleasure to speak to you this morning on this very important occasion in your own lives when, today, you will commence the process of being empowered; a process of building your own equity; a process of uplifting your lives and the lives of your families.”
He noted that it is a process which leads to strong personal fulfillment and “signifies the single most demonstration of accomplishment, both at the personal and family level, ownership of your own home.”
Ali congratulated the recipients for taking the bold step of applying and allowing the process to work and said that, like any organisation, everyday, his ministry strives to make changes that would strengthen it and work on correcting weaknesses.
Most dynamic
“And anyone who would want to say that the Ministry of Housing and the CH&PA have not evolved to be the most dynamic public or private organisation in this country, I am sorry but they are avoiding a fact,” he stated.
Minister Ali said their aim is to ensure that the Ministry and the CH&PA become the most “dynamic, efficient and reliable organization.”
He said:“Seventeen months ago, when we announced that we are going to develop the East Bank to have 17,000 new lots, there were many skeptics, they were many who felt that we were endeavouring on an ambitious task that we, as an organisation, as a government would not be able to accomplish. This morning, ladies and gentlemen, you are testimony to the fact that we have delivered on the targets we would have set.”
Ali explained:“We are working to ensure that, at the end of the development of the new East Coast and East Bank, described as suburbs of Georgetown by the CEO (of CH&PA) that we are going to accomplish a direct link from the East Coast to the East Bank and from the East Bank to the East Coast.
“That is the vision that we are looking at, integrating the East Coast with the East Bank and, for the first time, we will have a secondary access moving through from the East Bank to the East Coast.”
He declared it is an exciting time to be a part of the CH&PA and the Government and observed that many communities are going to see this historic transformation of what was once known as the cane field backlands.
Ali assured: “Today, your own lives will be improved in terms of your network, the network of your family, your equity value, all of that would improve as a result of owning your own home.”
The Minister pointed out that there is a very important aspect of development which fosters community and family life development when people come together.
He urged: “Look at the convergence of Guyanese here this morning and these are the communities that we want to create, where we live beside each other, where we learn from each other, where we embrace each other’s culture under one common umbrella, vision and objective, that is the upliftment of Guyana and the improvement of Guyana.”
Unique opportunity
Ali reminded that the One Stop Shop offers that unique opportunity of ease of access in doing business and, emphasised that, more importantly, it speaks directly to the issues of transparency and accountability.
“We are not afraid to bring our distribution of land to the open, to the public where everyone can see the process, can be part of the process and can understand the process so that, when wild accusations are cast and thrown, you, yourselves, will be able to dismiss them and understand the context in which they are thrown,” he asserted.
Ali said this development cost in excess of $1billion and fits into the more macro plan for the East Bank, which will see the developing of 17,000 house lots.
Elaborating, he said, under this project, 30 kilometres of road have been built, a similar distance of pure water distribution network installed, 100 drainage structures erected and 20 access bridges constructed.
“These represent the magnitude of work that went into developing the backlands today into service house lots that you will be able to benefit from,” Ali underscored.
Towards this goal, he recognised the hard work of the CH&PA staff and the contractors in completing the project under very challenging circumstances.
Ali disclosed that the average investment per house lot is $1.4M and, with 1,075 lots in this scheme, even the most expensive one is subsidised by Government with $200,000, the lower income allocated by $1.1M each and the middle income by $900,000.
“This would give you an understanding of the level of subsidy every stage of applicants would receive. Yet it is a progressive difference based on income, based on circumstances but that is how we have to do it to ensure that there is great equality in the system,” he said.
Ali said, later this year, phase one of the Remigrant Scheme will be completed that would see 480 lots allocated; the complete Herstelling Phase Two will have another 820 lots and that at Plantation Farm 500, while a new well will be sunk in Providence, costing $120M, to cater for these new developments.
He said the upgrading of roads will continue, at Diamond with $70M and a new $350M Mocha Main Road.
“In total, in 2012, we will invest more than $4.1 billion on the East Bank in the Housing Sector,” the Minister announced.
He told those in his audience: “I want to assure you that the commitment the government made, of making more than 30,000 house lots available to Guyanese in the next five years, will be accomplished and we are going to work hard, day in, day out, to ensure that the Guyanese people benefit from the development.”
Continued support
Ali thanked the Private Sector for continued support and encouraged persons to make use of it.
He also mentioned the Third Building Expo which will be staged under the theme ‘Embracing Standards – Building the Future’ from July 6 to 8 at the same stadium.
CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Myrna Pitt had, earlier, welcomed the allottees and confirmed that over 1,000 applicants will be accepting their lots in pursuance of, in some cases, a life-long ambition.
She acknowledged that the Housing Sector continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and the One Stop Shop addresses allocation of lots in the area of Providence, which is one of the more recent developments.
Pitt said the area comprises of more than 1,000 residential lots with 15 reserve sites which include for a fire station, a water treatment plant and schools.
She took the opportunity to congratulate all of the persons who will be receiving their lots and lauded the private and financial sectors for continuing to partner with them.