Editor,

IF I were the Government of Guyana, I would do an amnesty and give the 25,000 waiting applicants their house lots with free and clear titles, with an agreement that there would be added to their yearly land taxes a percentage of the cost for the land.The free and clear titles would mean that they could go straight to the banks and lending institutions, borrow money and begin building. This would immediately create a hive of activity in the housing market, which would cause an automatic renewed vigour in this fledgling economy.

I would use the first block of available land on the Linden Highway. This would create an immediate sprawling village, and the law of supply and demand would cause transportation, shops, and other goods and services to become available immediately.

The soon-to-be-completed four-lane East Bank project, coupled with the construction of the newly funded Diamond/Ogle bypass, would make travelling to the Linden Highway less time-consuming.

This housing development should be monitored closely. If anyone were to breach the agreement and sell his/her land in less than the stipulated allotted time, and that breach is found out, the buyer should lose his/her investment, including whatever property in on the land, and the seller should be charged with an offence.

The money needed for the initial infrastructural developments would come from the billions of dollars that the CH&PA has sitting in the banks. If need be, a loan from the international lending agencies can be obtained.

It’s time we engage some out-of-the-box thinking. Guyana has too much land for there to be 25,000 potential home owners waiting indefinitely for a call.

Pastor Wendell P. Jeffrey
Practical Christianity Ministries