– handover on Sept 14, La Parfaite Harmonie Community Centre

THE Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Saturday, September 14, will hand over the responsibility of the La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Scheme along with the Goed Fortuin regularised squatting area to the Malgre Tout/Meer Zorgen Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), West Coast of Demerara (WCD).

Chief Development Planner of the CH&PA, Germene Stuart, told the Department of Public Information (DPI), that the La Parfaite Harmonie housing scheme comprises 10 sections of which nine will be handed over to the NDC. “These sections are the Westminister, phases one and two; La Parfaite Harmonie, phases one and two; Recht-door-Zee, phases one and two; Onderneeming, phases one and two and Schoonard, phases one and two. We will not be handing over Lust-en-Rust because the infrastructure is incomplete.” Stuart explained that recently discussions were held between the CH&PA and Malgre Tout/and Meer Zorgen, NDC’s where it was agreed that the local authority would assume responsibility for these areas and a memorandum of understanding will be signed to this effect. “The handing over process is a collaborative and participatory process. We had several engagement sessions to determine the readiness of those housing areas and we discussed the role of the Central Housing and Planning Authority in the continued development of those housing areas.” The CH&PA officer noted some of the infrastructural developments of La Parfaite Harmonie; one of which is the rehabilitation of 29 kilometres of roads. According to Stuart, this represents 30 per cent of the roads in the Housing Scheme. The remaining 70 per cent will be completed by CH&PA.

In other developments, the community also has nursery, primary and secondary schools, community and health centres, a police station and various places of worship.

“The La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Scheme was one of the areas slated for the intervention under the Adequate Urban and Accessibility Programme. In total, there will be 8442 lots in the handing-over process to the local authority, along with the signing of the memorandum of understanding on Saturday, September 14, between the two partners,” Stuart detailed.
Additional documents that will be presented to the Malgre Tout/Meer Zorgen NDC include a list of duties and functions, a road maintenance manual, a developer’s manual which will provide guidance in the planning permission process, a cadastral plan which is a subdivision plan to identify the various parcel/plots of land – such residential or non-residential – in the La Parfaite Harmonie area.

The construction of two new wells, which are in the pipelines for the community, is in the developmental plans, subsidies for home-owners to build core homes, and grants to upgrade low-income homes. (DPI)