NEWLY appointed Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Patterson, has said that she will advocate for and ensure that the current prices for high, middle and low-income houselots are reduced.The minister’s disclosure was made on an A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU’s) weekly television show, “Nation Watch,” which is hosted by Malika Ramsey and was aired last weekend.
Commenting on the current state of the housing sector, Patterson said that it was sad that Guyana was by far larger than all the Caribbean islands and even England, but had the lowest population, and could not provide houselots for every eligible Guyanese.
“My vision is to give every eligible Guyanese a piece of land or a home” she said, adding that the vision of President David Granger and the government was not just to give people houselots, but to equip them with access roads, water and electricity.
Quizzed by Ramsey on what were her thoughts on the current prices for houselots, the minister noted that they were too high, and she would not only advocate a reduction, but she would ensure that it took effect.
She reasoned that a low-income piece of land was approximately $300,000, but in Guyana, there were people who still could not afford that price. Coupled with that was the fact that successful applicants were required to pay at least half the total cost, some within a week and others within the first month.
“How can a person who works for $75,000 a month pay for a $1.5M house lot in a month?” she asked.
Further, she questioned the rationale of allocating lands for over $1M to people earning less than $100,000 a month, when there were less expensive lands available which those people could access. And to add to the burden burden, those applicants were usually required, within a week or two, to have a down-payment of at least half the total cost.
This, according to Minister Patterson, was difficult for low-income earners, and as such those policies needed to be revised. Consequently, she will be leading the way at a board meeting scheduled for January 28, to propose the reduction in land cost. Further, she will be seeking to revise one of the criteria which states that a young person must be married and have children before receiving a houselot.
Meanwhile, the minister commented on the unbecoming attitude of some staff at the Department of Housing which has resulted in numerous complaints to authorities. Acknowledging that there was an existing issue in this area, Minister Patterson noted that she has since spoken to the staff directly and expected that this “attitude” which is unprofessional, be abandoned. Also, she noted that the one hour break for lunch by the cashier at the department, which resulted in persons having to wait, would be changed from this week.