…as Guyana observes World Habitat Day

MINISTER with responsibility for housing, Annette Ferguson, has joined in the observance of World Habitat Day and said she supports UN-Habitat’s mission towards transformative change in cities and human settlements – to leave no one and no place behind.

World Habitat Day observance is critical because it places the spotlight on an issue that is of great significance to families, Ferguson said in a statement. She said the observance recognises the importance of shelter. “It calls on all of us to reflect on the state of human settlements and people’s right to adequate shelter and is aimed at reminding people that “they are responsible for the habitat of future generations; that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.”

According to Ferguson, each year World Habitat Day features a theme that seeks to bring attention to UN-Habitat’s mandate to “promote sustainable development policies that ensure adequate shelter for all.” The theme for this year is: “Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to transform Waste to Wealth,” and seeks to “promote the contribution of innovative frontier technologies to sustainable waste management to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11: inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. Going beyond solid waste this includes all waste produced by human activity (solid, liquid, domestic, industrial and commercial), which continues to have a devastating impact on climate change, public health and the environment.”

World Habitat Day also embodies the clarion call for all levels of government and all relevant stakeholders to: “reflect on how to implement concrete initiatives to ensure adequate and affordable housing . . .

“As we contemplate today’s observance, I wish to focus my attention on a key element of this year’s theme, that is, ‘to transform waste to wealth.’ And I am truly delighted to note that here in Guyana, and more particularly, the housing sector, those efforts are well under way.”

Minister Ferguson said in 2018 the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN), Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice, unveiled a housing initiative that transforms bauxite overburden, which is normally considered a waste product, into valuable blocks for the construction of houses for low-income families within the community. The blocks to be used in the construction of these homes are made by Linden Bricks, a company in Amelia’s Ward, and utilises laterite as its base material. This laterite is the top of the earth’s surface that was stripped away during the mining phase, but is of no value to the actual bauxite production process.
In the words of my colleague Minister, “this project demonstrated, among other things, “innovation” which transforms useless bauxite overburden into valuable building blocks to provide homes for families at a reduced cost.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by the Chairman of LEN, who also highlighted the project’s ingenuity, and noted that “what is considered waste product is now being used to construct homes.” The first model home was erected at Amelia’s Ward, Linden, at a cost of approximately $3.5 million.

Additionally, the initiative promises to bring together stakeholders from various sections of society to collaborate and provide adequate and affordable housing for some of our more vulnerable families. In this regard, LEN will seek to collaborate with other entities, and leading banking institutions to provide financing to potential homeowners. When the United Nations General Assembly instituted World Habitat Day more than 30 years ago, it was driven by the view that “everyone deserves a decent place to live.” I use this opportunity to ask us to reflect on President Granger’s vision for housing in Guyana and to see that he shares the same view, and is committed to making it a reality.

Ferguson said President David Granger has clearly articulated this commitment when he declared, back in May of this year: “Every citizen should enjoy the right to housing” and that he would like to [demit office] … “when there is not a single homeless Guyanese. Every Guyanese must have a roof over his or her head.”
His government aims “to create in Guyana, a community of free citizens who own land, who own houses. We are trying to abolish homelessness; we are trying to abolish destitution.”

Ferguson said President Granger embraces the notion that decent housing has an important role in “removing barriers to opportunity, success and health that might have been part of a family’s life.” Hence his declaration that: “Land must not be the subject of speculation by a few rich people; it must be the subject of settlement by many poor people.”

She noted that the President has committed to ensuring that resources are made available for “holistic community development [going] beyond the provision of house lots and housing units. It will cater to the needs of residents including education, electricity, fire-protection services, health, worship, human safety, recreation, roads, sanitation, street lights and water.”

“On this World Habitat Day, I, along with the staff of the Department of Housing, join with concerned citizens – here and abroad – to raise awareness, to educate, and call for the mobilising of individuals and communities to take action on the present housing crisis.

As the President has said, “shanties, slums and squatter settlements” are “three types of undesirable housing” which “must be ended.” His vision is that: “Squatters who reside on reserves need to be relocated and resettled and affected persons must be provided with the option of acquiring government housing. Our children must grow up in communities. Every child, every family should have a roof over his head.”

“This World Habitat Day, all of us – government, businesses, and other members of civil society – must unite and rededicate ourselves to recognise the basic right to adequate shelter. We must all lift our voices, and our hands where possible, to help people in need of decent and affordable housing. I urge us all on this day to use our imagination to devise ways and means of turning waste into wealth, so that every family would be provided with decent, affordable and adequate shelter,” Ferguson said.