…woman gets house lot after 18-year wait

A 45-year-old mother of one, whose land application was in the system for 18 years, was allocated a house lot on Thursday when the government took its Public Day to Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) – a district that is currently seeing an injection of $1.4B to develop hundreds of residential lands.

Jewel Torrington was among the hundreds of persons who flocked the Regional Democratic Council compound at Fort Wellington to capitalise on the opportunity to access government services and interact with ministers of government on critical issues affecting them.
At the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) tents, where hundreds of persons from across the district engaged the staff on a range of housing and land issues, Torrington was among applicants who were handed allocation letters by the Minister of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Adams-Yearwood.

Bubbling with excitement, the mother of one told the Guyana Chronicle that she had applied for a plot of land since 2001 but at the time, was told that priority was being given to persons with three or more children. Torrington, nonetheless, submitted her application and completed the interview. Over the past 18 years, she repeatedly enquired about her application, and was asked to do two additional interviews.

For her, Thursday’s Public Day was her last attempt. “I am here because I thought that this was my last resort. I applied for a land since 2001. I attended three interviews prior to now. The interviews happened like every five years but I was never allocated a plot of land,” Torrington recalled.

When she submitted her documents on Thursday, she was allocated a plot of land on spot. “You don’t even have to ask, it is exciting. I heard other persons talk about the system, that it works, so I had all confidence that I was going to be allotted a plot of land today, so I am most grateful,” Torrington told this newspaper.

Twenty-three-year-old Ottui Moore was also allotted a plot of land. She had applied in 2017 when the CH&PA had conducted an outreach and had been on the waiting list since. “I am very happy because my dream was to get my house first and then to buy a car because you cannot live in a car and that is my philosophy. So I am very excited and happy,” Moore told the Guyana Chronicle.

Jaikallie Itwaru, a 49-year-old mother of one, who hails from Bath Settlement, was among those in the waiting line at the time of the interview. Itwaru told this newspaper that she acquired a house lot approximately 12 years ago but due to her financial circumstances, she has been unable to construct her home. On Thursday, it was her intention to solicit financial support from the CH&PA or any of its partners, such as Food For The Poor to build a house.

“I am a cleaner at the RDC and I have a house lot but I can’t build because I don’t have the money to build, so I am here in search of help,” Itwaru said. She, along with her daughter who is unable to walk due to her disability, lives at relatives, but according to her, it can be very uncomfortable at times. “It is time I get my own house, but like I said, I really can’t afford it,” she added.

Donette Cummings, from Seafield (Number 42 Village) West Coast Berbice, is a mother of two children, and Thursday marked the first time she applied for a house lot. The 50-year-old woman explained that she returned to Guyana several years ago after living in St. Maarten but never applied for a house lot until now. Cummings said it is time she becomes a home owner, and the application in the system is the first step to getting there.
Chandanie Baijnauth, a 36-year-old single parent of one was also among those who accessed the services of the CH&PA. More than 10 years ago, she had applied for a plot of land but was told that her name could not have been found in the system. As such, she submitted a fresh application during the outreach.

HOUSING AT EXPERIMENT
Minister Yearwood said the response from the Mahaica-Berbice District was overwhelming, explaining that the majority of the persons who visited the CH&PA tents were there to enquire about house lots. Minister Adams-Yearwood said given the demand for housing in the region, CH&PA will be developing residential lots in Experiment, where it constructed 20 housing units.

“The lots at Experiment, they are not ready. We will have to put in the infrastructure but we are offering it to the people (and) as soon as we complete the plan, the design, we are offering the allocation. They can pay and we will give them a letter with a commitment as to when the lots will be ready for construction. Many people are coming with their monies they are ready to pay their 50 per cent,” Minister Adams-Yearwood explained.

CH&PA Chief Executive Officer, Lelon Saul, explained that unlike the other regions, the majority of the lands in Region Five are privately owned, while the others are owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) and the Mahaicony/Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS).

To attend to demands of the region, CH&PA built 20 housing units at Experiment and regularised Blathylock – a settlement within Blairmont, however, only a few opted to take the housing units.

At the time of the interview, only 10 of the units, which include two bedroom elevated houses ($7M), two bedroom flat houses ($6.5M) and three bedroom flat houses ($9M) were sold. The remaining 10 were not sold.
“The culture of people in this region is to build their own home, they prefer that, and what we find is that people prefer serviced lots rather than having a built unit,” Saul explained.

$1.4B INJECTION
As such, CH&PA will is injecting $1.4B into the region to develop residential lands in the region. The CEO explained that the authority will be expanding the Experiment Housing Scheme to accommodate approximately 200 lots. At Blairmont, another 200 serviced lots

will be created.
Added to that, CH&PA is in discussion with the MARDS to acquire lands for homestead. According to Saul, the agreement will be finalised within two months and it is the hope of CH&PA to acquire 20 to 50 acres of land.
“The beneficiaries will be given pretty large house lots, up to about quarter of an acre where they can build the housing units and they can engage in subsistence farming and animal husbandry,” he detailed. CH&PA has also approached the MMA/ADA for lands. At the time of the interview, there were only 15 serviced lots that are readily available.