AYASIA May La Fleur is the proud owner of a new, semi-furnished home at the New Prospect Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.

The soon to be former resident of GuyHoc Park Squatting Area and a mother of nine, was squatting since the age of 23. She explained that she applied 12 years ago, for a house lot and hoped that her fortune would change under the coalition government since she got “nowhere” under the previous administration.

La Fleur decided to visit the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA) Open House Exhibition on Sunday March 31. There she, like hundreds, filled out a coupon for a chance to win a free house courtesy of the CH&PA. The 41-year-old, single mother was in the Giftland Mall shopping when she received the call.

She recalled, “I was so happy. I screamed in the Mall. Everybody around me wanted to know what happened but my friend who was with me said, ‘Ok baby take it easy’. Let’s go and hear what they say.” When she arrived at the Ministry of Housing, she affirmed her good fortune. Asked about her present circumstances, La Fleur said she was squatting, “on a government reserve and really wanted to move all the time.”

Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valarie Adams-Yearwood said she had hoped fervently that the house would have been won by someone, “who really, really, really needed it.” According to the minister, the house is valued at $4M and the plot of land is $100, 000. While the house is free, La Fleur would be required to pay $100,000 for the land, within the next six months.

The new home owner will receive the keys to her new home on Friday. It will be equipped with a microwave, bed, television set and maybe a few other things, the minister added.
According to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), more than 50 per cent of Guyanese are applying for house lots within the low-income bracket and to provide for those applicants the agency will collaborate with a number of Private Developers to make that possible. The prices range between $4 Million, $6 Million and $9 Million. The CH&PA will move beyond single units and duplexes, and add condominiums to the housing developments.

The houses measure 400 square feet each, and features two standard-size bedrooms, bath and washroom area, kitchen and living room space and a small patio which stands on a plot of land measuring 40 by 80 feet. The exhibition commenced on Friday and ended Sunday, March 31.