– some 60 housing schemes being developed across Guyana

THE Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) is in the process of handing over 100 acres of land in North Amelia’s Ward to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), which will see approximately 500 house lots being allocated to applicants, as soon as it is completed. This was revealed at a community meeting on Thursday evening, where newly appointed Minister within the Ministry of Communities with Responsibility for Housing, Annette Ferguson and Chief Executive Officer of CHPA, Lelon Saul, were present. This good news was met with a loud applause by the scores of residents who attended.

The current burning issue in Linden is that there are no house lots available for allocation, despite there being thousands of active applications in the system. Since late 2017, there has been no allocation of house lots. In updating the residents on the progress that has been made and to address pending issues, Saul assured the residents that the two entities are working overtime to get the lands transferred so that allocations can commence forthwith, as soon as the lands are developed. Priority will be given to persons with older applications.

Residents, especially youths, took the opportunity to air their frustration on the long hold up and countless visits to the CHPA Linden Branch, in the hope that they will be allocated lands. “Next year we will be doing a lot of work in your community and we are asking you to allow us to come back next year and you can make that possible, so we are asking you to do that,” Saul said. In addition to the transfer of lands, Saul related that one of the other challenges faced by Lindeners is the issuance of land titles for lands already allocated. He related that in one section of Amelia’s Ward, several titles had to be cancelled and recused because of issues relative to duplicity in the issuance of land. He said that works are ongoing to correct the issue so that persons awaiting their land titles can be re-issued them earliest.

Minister Ferguson said that while she is a new kid on the block she recognizes the challenges and plight of the common man for land ownership. “[At] the Department of Housing, we are working hard to ensure that we find the lands so that we can provide the house lots or houses to our people, that is our mandate at CHPA, to ensure that our people, more so the working class of people, are provided with a reasonable home or having a roof over their head,” she said.

For this to be made possible, Ferguson said that CHPA has to depend on other agencies, such as GLSC and NICIL, that are custodians over state lands and this is what is currently being done. In addition, she said that when the lands are transferred, they need to be adequately developed to allow for accessibility and access to basic amenities. To develop one house lot, she related, it costs the government $3.5 M. Currently, CHPA is developing some 60 housing schemes across Guyana.

Community needs to play a role
Meanwhile, a GLSC Officer, working on the transfer project, appealed to the residents and the wider Linden community to stop squatting on the lands, since this is playing a major role of stymieing the surveying process. He said that every day, officers are discovering lands that are being squatted on in the same area that is to be transferred. Some houses are on critical lands where roads and other infrastructure have to go. All relevant agencies need to play a role, he said, since these squatters are having access to water and electricity. Ferguson, while expressing that she understands the frustration, reminded the residents that squatting is illegal. She also reminded residents that corruption will not be tolerated under her watch and urge all officers to be transparent and accountable.