A ‘WHITE PAPER’ will be laid in the National Assembly detailing the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government’s Housing Project which will capitalise on local products, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said on Thursday.
In his address to reporters at the Ministry of the Presidency, Minister Harmon said the ‘white paper’ will be tabled in the National Assembly by Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan.
“It will also deal with the method of construction, method of payments for units, mortgages for recipients and the criteria for allocation, and included also is this issue of aided self-help programme,” the Minister of State explained as he alluded to the document that will soon be laid before the House.
In February, the Government announced that 758 housing units in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and 10 will be constructed at a cost of $5B to provide low-income earners, young people and public-sector families with affordable housing.
Approximately 1500 applicants will be shortlisted for duplexes and town house units but in constructing these housing units, the Government will be seeking to capitalize on indigenous materials and local contractors.
“We import into this country a lot of foreign species. We import pine and all these different types of woods. We have a wide variety of woods in Guyana and we want to encourage the use of the woods we have here in Guyana,” the Minister of State explained.
He said too that there have been some proposals for the production of clay bricks. “Many of these things which really made us self-sufficient in some way we have to review these things because we can’t just continue buying these products from abroad when in fact we have the facilities right here,” Minister Harmon noted.
The Ministers of Government were brought up to date with the Housing Programme during the one day Ministerial Conference held at State House on Tuesday. During that conference, Minister Bulkan said that the Housing Programme inherited from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government was ineffective since it largely focused on the distribution of house lots.
The government of the day, however, is focused on building houses within communities with the involvement of the private sector. Additionally, focus will be placed on regularizing squatting settlements in all regions of the country.
An investigation into the programme found that 66,000 service lots were developed in 380 areas in Guyana from 1995-2015, however to date approximately 28, 000 or 45 per cent of the lots are unoccupied.
During the period 2011 to 2015, approximately 20, 000 lots were developed in 13 areas for which approximately a little over 16, 000 (or 80 per cent), currently are unoccupied, Minister Bulkan had pointed out during a public forum based on the investigation conducted.
With only 20 per cent of the housing programme achieved over the past five years, and 25,000 active applications within the system, the Minister of Communities had said his Ministry has taken up the mantle to meet the demands of the growing population by providing housing solutions.
While the Ministry through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), under the watch of Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Adams-Patterson, will be constructing 758 housing units within 12 months starting in April, its medium-term objective seeks to deliver approximately 10, 000 housing units in the next five years to eligible Guyanese. The housing programme being pursued by this Administration comprises four components: squatter resettlement, urban regeneration, urban rehabilitation and the provision of housing needs in hinterland communities.