OVER 500 residents of Kilcoy/Chesney community in Berbice became proud owners of house lots at Friday’s Ministry of Housing and Water’s  One Stop Shop exercise

Close to 10,000 house lots have been distributed in Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) over the last 10 years, under the government. According to Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali this is no small feat in the Government’s drive to ensure that all citizens have equitable access to housing.

Ali was addressing the beneficiaries of the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s  (CHPA) allocation exercise for the Kilcoy/ Chesney areas in Berbice yesterday, where hundreds more were empowered as impending home owners.

“At the end of this allocation process we would have a remaining number of 560 applications out of the existing 1,062. Hopefully by the end of 2013 we would bring that number down to zero,” Ali announced.

Expounding on the significance of the occasion, he pointed to the level of government subsidy, which has made the process possible.

“We want you to rest assured that this PPP/c Government will continue to make investment in all priority areas so that our people can have improved standards of living,” he explained

He said more importantly the beneficiaries of the allocation process will only be required to pay 24 percent of the value of the land.
As regards efforts made by some politicians to discontinue transformative initiatives, such as the housing programme, the minister reaffirmed his commitment towards ensuring that even more citizens will benefit.

He went on to make the commitment that over the next five years efforts will be made to complete the allocation process for outstanding applications countrywide.

While r Ali encouraged the new allottees to hastily move towards the construction process, the residents were warned against misrepresentation during the application process, and urged to opt out of the process if they were guilty of this.

Presentations were also made by the CEO of the Planning Authority and other representatives who spoke of the importance of adherence to building codes and standards.

 In closing he called on the allotees to reflect on the auspiciousness of the occasion and the vital role it will play in not only fostering stronger families but in building a stronger nation.