-at penultimate One Stop Shop exercise for 2013 – to benefit over 4,000

A TOTAL of 1,029 houselots were distributed Friday at the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA’s) penultimate One Stop Shop exercise for 2013 at the Guyana National Stadium for Plantation Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara.

Speaking to the media at the event, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, noted the investment made by the CH&PA on the Covent Garden project is just one of several such developments on the East Bank Demerara for 2013.
The CH&PA has invested a huge sum on developing the area that will benefit 4,219 persons. Works include construction of 15.8 kilometres of crushed-stone-surfaced roads, the installation of an 18 km pure water distribution network and the construction of 64 drainage structures.
The project is 50 percent completed, with the outstanding work being the installation of electricity at the cost of $61.7M. Minister Ali said that the CH&PA is expected to commence the electrical installation in 2014.
Allottee Omar Carvio said, “I feel proud today, my dreams have come to pass and I feel happy about it. I give thanks to the government and the minister and everyone else. I have been waiting more than four years and this will definitely benefit my wife and two sons and our family. This is a gift for the holiday, I got my gift early.”

For Lucrecia Bassant, “I got what I did not expect; I received a low- income lot. The ministry staff worked with me to make sure that I was given a lot that I could afford. I have four children and I need somewhere for them. I am happy”.
This was the eighth One Stop Shop exercise for 2013. The seventh was also conducted at the National Stadium on October 30, at which 1,695, mostly moderate and middle-income lots, were allocated to persons for the Farm Phase 2 area on the East Bank of Demerara.
Exercises were also conducted at Lust-en-Rust and Uitvlugt Region 3, Kilcoy/Chesney Region 6 and Onderneeming on the Essequibo Coast.
In 2012, nine One Stop Shop outreaches were conducted with 5,869 house- lots allocated and 4,996 land titles processed, while 75 core houses were constructed and distributed.
This year, the sum of $3.1B was allocated to the housing sector for citizens to have improved access to housing and to improve the quality of life in both housing schemes and in regularised settlements. A total of 5,900 houselots were targeted to be distributed and over 4,000 land titles processed and distributed.

(GINA)