SEVERAL residents could not stop showering praises on Minister responsible for Housing, Valerie Patterson when they were allocated lots at a distribution exercise held on Thursday at the Region Three (Essequibo Islands /West Demerara) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Office at Vreed-en-Hoop.
Some 66 low-income house lots were allocated for Recht Door Zee on the West Bank of Demerara. Aside from those who were allocated lots, many other persons who were not assigned lots nonetheless turned up with letters showing they had applied years ago, with the hope of appealing to the minister. Minister Patterson took the time out to look at their letters and speak with them.
Many of those who did receive lots on Thursday expressed how great their need for proper housing was. The majority of the recipients were single mothers.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, I can’t complain because [of] the torment I’ve been going through [living at] my grandmother with my kids. Getting this house lot means a great lot to me. God is so great and so good and I’m so thankful that I got through,” shared 30-year-old Tracey Hussain, a single mother of three.
Hussain’s children are between the ages of 7 and 11 years old and she was overjoyed that she was that much closer to having a home all to herself. She currently lives in the North Ruimveldt Squatting Area under strenuous circumstances.
“You know children does be disgusting, so is like is torment. They say ‘why you don’t make haste and get out my house leh ah get to live in peace’ and them kind of things,” she shared of her difficult situation.
Fifty-five-year-old Desiree Gordon had been waiting for some time for a house. She is currently renting on the West Bank of Demerara.
“Thank God for this minister, is nothing like when you get your own place. I go through a lot, I ain’t gon’ talk it but when I done build my house and everything I will give testimony in church,” said Gordon.
Like Hussain, security guard Roxanne Norville also lives at a squatting area, and can’t wait to put a house on her land and move out of her current conditions.
“I am very happy that I get my house lot. I thank the minister for offering it to me and very soon I will pay for my house lot. I live in West Ruimveldt Squatting Area and the condition is not very nice, I would always get flood; at one time I get typhoid there, so I want to move as soon as possible. I living there nearly ‘bout 25 years, so I want to move on. My house get break and I can’t do nothing, I have to live in it ‘til I get something better,” said Norville who does not have any children of her own but helps to take care of her young nieces.
The lots cost $92,000 each and come at a time when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) has been doing a lot to make housing available to Guyana’s poorest families. The CHPA is in the middle of rolling out its US$27M Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme where some 250 free core homes will be distributed and some 2000 households can access as much as $500,000 to rehabilitate their homes.
A father of two, labourer Owen Cole wants to see his family in a better place.
“I apply eight years ago. [Where I live] it’s kind of terrible because I using an outside toilet and since I apply, I paying rent. I feel thankful getting this land so I could live more comfortable. I really need a land, I would move anywhere. I would pay off for it in less than the time they give me,” 38-year-old Cole said.
Another single mother, Sunita Murli, was among those who were allocated a lot. She was happy that the minister took the time out to look into her situation.
“I’m a single parent, I have two girls and one boy, I come fuh see if I go get one. I renting and I have to move, the people them want they place. So I hoping to get something [a house lot] so I can make a small something on it where I can live with my kids,” Murli said.
