THE Ministry of Housing and Water conducted its second ‘One Stop Shop’, for the year so far, at its Brickdam, Georgetown office yesterday, distributing 85 new houselots in Zeelugt, Phase Two, East Bank Essequibo.

As a result, it is expected that close to 400 people will benefit and, according to Housing Minister, Mr. Irfaan Ali, 800 more plots, at a cost of $700M, will be given out before this year-end in the Zeelugt Phase Three scheme.
The minister said that to ensure the 85 allocated were made available; Government invested $90.5M in infrastructure which is 100 percent complete.
Also at the head table with Minister Ali, for the formalities, were Permanent Secretary in his Ministry, Mr. Emile Mc Garrell and Operations Director, Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) Ms. Denise King-Tudor.
The Zeelugt area became the focus of the ministry subsequent to a previous ‘One Stop Shop’ staged there, last year, when officials found a  number of persons, including single parents and low/middle income families, whom they felt were within the timeframe to have their applications processed.
The minister pointed out, though, that the 85 disbursed lots do not have electricity but the installation is anticipated to be completed early in 2014 at the cost of about $5M, taking the total investment in Zeelugt Phase Two to $95.7M.

GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY
Minister Ali informed that the amount of revenue the Housing Ministry would garner from yesterday’s allocation will be $25.5M, meaning that, in all, the Government subsidy involved would be $70.2M.
“The Government would have subsidised this scheme by 73.35 percent,” he stated, adding that one of the major challenges facing the ministry is completion of the electricity programme in a number of the schemes.
“We are working closely with GPL (Guyana Power & Light) to find ways to expedite the work in these schemes, ensuring that we can accelerate the electricity work in these schemes.
“This year has been a particularly different year for us, in the sense that our first focus was on consolidating the existing infrastructure in the various communities, ensuring that we advance our work to encourage occupancy and, indeed, in many of the schemes, we have seen a more rapid response to building and construction.
“This gives you the assurance that the Government is committed to the task of providing housing for every segment of the society. We will make the necessary investment notwithstanding the difficult political environment in which we are operating,” Ali affirmed.