— replacement yet to be identified, says Minister Rodrigues

By Navendra Seoraj
THE Ministry of Housing and Water has parted ways with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Lelon Saul.
Saul’s dismissal was confirmed by Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues.
The minister told this publication that a replacement for Saul has not yet been identified, but other reliable sources confirmed that someone will soon be appointed to act in the position.
The CH&PA of Guyana was created in 1948 to address the housing needs of the working class of Guyana.
Saul, a former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guyana Defence Force, was hired to be CEO for the authority by the former Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, in 2017. He replaced Myrna Pitt, who had stepped down as the CEO of CH&PA, in June 2016.
In speaking about his dismissal, Saul told this publication that he received a letter notifying him that his service was terminated with effect from August 25, 2020.
“Notwithstanding the termination date, it states that I must proceed on leave until September 23, 2020… I find that to be confusing because if my service is terminated with effect from today (Tuesday), then I have to assume anything after that does not make sense because I am no longer employed,” said the former CEO.
When asked if he will be seeking redress, Saul said he has not contemplated it, but will be moving forward positively.
“I have life and tomorrow morning when the sun rises I must be there to see it…Today (Tuesday) is my birthday, I do not have time with that, it is a day to celebrate and be merry,” said the former CEO.
Saul had taken over the CH&PA at a time when the authority was getting ready to implement its 2017 housing projects, which included the delivery and construction of 758 housing units in the form of either town houses or duplexes in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

SEVERAL ISSUES

Despite the work done over the past five years, Minister Rodrigues said the new administration inherited several issues that must be resolved concerning the allocation and infrastructure of house lots.
“Persons received letters saying they were allocated house lots in certain areas.  The difficulty we have is that in those areas that persons were allocated, most have no infrastructure or they lack even basic infrastructure,” Minister Rodrigues told DPI in an interview on Monday.
She pointed out that this means the ministry will have to embark on massive infrastructure to create these house lots. This, Minister Rodrigues said is adding to the backlog in the system.
“Let me say, that house lots do not exist! There are just muddy plots of land that do not have any infrastructure….To compound this, many of the areas that have been allocated, the transaction, the transfer of those lands has not been made to CH&PA. So, that is contributing to the backlog and unless we properly acquire those lands, do the infrastructural work which we are mandated to do and then properly allocate them, that’s the only way we can start to roll out our programme,” said the minister.
Basic infrastructure, such as water, electricity and roads to create access to those plots of land will have to be installed.

UP AND RUNNING
Just recently, several key housing and water services, which were put on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak, are now back up and running.
Among those services which were affected, due to the many restrictions that had to be implemented in a bid to stop the deadly novel coronavirus in its tracks were: land allocation; updates of names to applications; processing of agreement of sale and title; interviews for new applications; and all outdoor activities.
“I am pleased to announce that under strict COVID-19 safety measure guidelines, some of our services under CH&PA have resumed,” Minister Rodrigues said, adding: “These services include ranger’s patrol, residential house lot payment; surveying of lots with one person allowed on that visit; and visits for planning permission.”
In an effort to ensure that all Guyanese have access to water, which is a much-needed commodity in the fight against COVID-19, all water-related services have been resumed. She also used the opportunity to reassure consumers that the ministry has no intention of going back on its promise to not carry out disconnections until further notice.
She also said that in an effort to comply with the guidelines governing social distancing, and to further promote the safety of the members of staff of the ministry and all citizens, some additional measures have been put in place as well.