THE government is doing its utmost to address the housing needs of the population, said Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing, Annette Ferguson.

The minister made the comment during a recent interview on the National Communication Network (NCN) programme ‘INSIGHT’.

“Since coming into government, what we have journeyed on rather than just providing a house lot – we have started constructing houses in the Prospect and Perseverance areas we have developed model houses, the high elevated houses, we have the duplex houses and we have the single flat houses,” Minister Ferguson said.

She reminded that to access these houses, applicants must meet the criteria outlined by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). Once accepted, they will then be issued with a letter to take to mortgage institutions if they so desire.

Minister Ferguson said there are over 40,000 pending house lot applications.

These, she said, were inherited from the previous administration. However, since the Coalition Government has been in office, it has been working assiduously to address this need.

“In the Cummings Lodge area, we have started to do some infrastructural works in terms of de-bushing the area; so also in the Prospect area, there on the East Bank of Demerara, we intend to develop Meten-Meer-Zorg, Vigilance and also an area in Mon Repos,” the minister detailed. Once these works are completed, she said, persons will be allocated house lots in those areas.

The minister explained that the process of developing house lots also involves the allocation of lands to the Ministry of Communities by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).

Subsequently, letters and a design layout of the area are submitted to utility companies such as the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) and the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) so that they make the relevant preparatory works in the respective areas to make services available.

“My simple appeal to the masses out there is, be patient, your government, through the Ministry of Communities, the Department of Housing, is working assiduously to address your housing needs,” she said.

According to Minister Ferguson, she is working in keeping with President David Granger’s four-point policy plan for housing which rests on four pillars – Re-orientation, Resources, Regularisation and Regionalisation. The policy aims to ensure that all Guyanese have roofs over their heads. (DPI)