THE 1000-homes turn-key initiative at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara is ahead of schedule, and construction of the homes is expected to begin as soon as October, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, has said.

The ministry launched the project in June with the promise that it would work aggressively to have construction start long before the end of 2013.
Speaking yesterday at the site, directly behind the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, Minister Ali advised that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) has started clearing the entire area earmarked for the homes. The expectation is that this process will be completed in the next three weeks, as long as it is not interrupted by inclement weather.
He explained that the design of the scheme is already on course, and that once land clearing has been completed, the CHPA would immediately take the project out to tender.
The 1000-homes initiative is the latest in the successful turn-key concept started by the Housing & Water Ministry in 2011 in a strategy to assist low-income earners to become home owners.
The initiative will see the ministry constructing two-bedroom homes for $4.9M and three-bedroom homes for $9M, and those homes would be sold to qualifying beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the Housing Minister also pointed out that he has issued a warning to the general public to beware of fraudsters who attempt to sell house lots, which he advised are available only through the CHPA.
Minister Ali is urging persons “to safeguard themselves, and to operate in an honest manner, because when you do this and you are part of these (dishonest) schemes, you are also a part of the fraud.”
The minister explained that the internal control system of the CHPA has been strengthened “to the extent that we have been nabbing a lot of fraudsters and detecting a lot of fraud in the system.”
He observed that fraudsters hereunto exposed are from those outside of the system. “We have warned the public out there that there is only one way of conducting business with the CHPA, and that is by coming into the ministry and dealing directly with the ministry,” Minister Ali emphasised.
He explained that one recent fraudster was nabbed trying to sell some of the turn-key homes. Cecil Davis, aka Charlie, was placed before the courts but has been granted bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 12.
Minister Ali is urging all persons with information on anyone trying to sell turn-key homes to take the information into the ministry. He added that, to date, more than 13 cases been investigated.