THE Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has commenced the process of repossessing lands from private land developers.

This is according to CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lelon Saul, who noted during a briefing organised by the Ministry of Communities at the Herdmanston Lodge on Thursday that the lands are located along the East Bank of Demerara.

In the past, the CH&PA had warned private land developers, who were allocated tracts of lands under the previous administration to build on the lands or face repossession.

The CH&PA has the authority to review the use of lands that were disbursed to private and other landowners, but which to date remain undeveloped.

Such moves are aimed at ensuring that the agency meets the demand for house lots by the population as well as to expand its pilot projects.

On Thursday, Saul said that in 2017, a total of 1131 house lots were allocated countrywide by the CH&PA. The lots were distributed is Region One (52), Region Two (28) , Region Three (77) , Region Four (513) , Region Five (20) , Region Six (99), Region Nine (132) and Region 10 (201).

Regarding the body’s electrification programme, he said the initial phases of the project has commenced in areas such as Onderneeming on the Essequibo Coast; Zeelugt on the East Bank of Essequibo; Covent Garden, Farm and Peter’s Hall on the East Bank of Demerara, as well as at Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara.

The CH&PA has made significant progress regarding the project, he said, noting that the body’s mandate is to install electrical hardware while the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is expected to supply the line for connection to the power grid.
GPL must also certify that the power network in the area meet the required standard.

Saul also answered questions on the squatting of persons on state lands. He said that the much publicised Sophia squatters, some of whom had their homes dismantled last year, will not be relocated until adequate systems for their relocation are put in place.

Elsewhere, he said that some persons squatting in the vicinity of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) may have to be relocated.

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan reported that between 2000 and 2005, some 66,000 house lots were allocated, and of that sum, some 28,000 were unoccupied.

He said more recently, from May 2011 -2015, 38 housing schemes were developed in which 20,000 house lots were allocated but only 4000 of such allocations translated into built housing units.

He said close to $12.7B was spent on those areas and at the moment they require a further $16B to complete.

“It makes no sense to invest huge sums of money” in areas where the rate of occupancy is less than 20 per cent and where no proper infrastructure such as roads, drains and electricity networks are provided, he said.

The minister said the current administration embarked on constructing built units so that persons can occupy the homes. He said too that information suggests that there are deeper problems within the sector and the need for “realignment”, which the Government is pursuing.