A HEADLINE, “600 houselots for Region Two – President Ali,” revealed the mettle of Guyana’s Head-of-State, who is no slouch in tackling and resolving contentious issues in the country with dispatch. The story apprised the nation that His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali had announced the pending distribution of approximately 600 house lots, which will be made available within six weeks to residents in Region Two. A presidential/ministerial outreach held in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) on Wednesday, December 9, was filled with hope and expectation of fruitful outcomes, and the supplicants were not disappointed. As Minister of Housing and Water, Trade and Tourism in the previous PPP/C administration, then Minister Ali had demonstrated his acumen for proactive leadership with surpassing verve and energy. Noted for his decisive approach to problem-resolution, it is not surprising that, as Head-of-State, his approval rating has shot up to 72 per cent, with his government achieving 69 per cent.

The Irfaan Ali government has been grounding with the people and addressing their basic needs almost immediately after acceding to office on August 2, five months after the PPP/C achieved victory at the 2020 polls. The President has continued the tradition of successive PPP/PPP/C governments of taking government to the people countrywide and ministers are fanning out, with great regularity, to ensure that citizens know that their government will work indefatigably to better their lives, albeit fiscal constraints necessitate prioritising implementation of programmes and projects. President Ali has accomplished most of his 100-day promises and the people are very appreciative of the President’s decision to take government to the people and of his personal interactions with communities.

The ministers are being lauded for their activism and performance while executing their mandates on crucial issues, especially those pertaining to housing, education, the infrastructure, information, forestry, mining, oil, gas, agriculture, local government, and other matters that are crucial to job and wealth creation, and enhanced lifestyles. The accomplishments in governance of the Ali administration, within a few months, are winning the respect of even PPP/C adversaries, and trust in the new administration is inexorably, steadily being won through the hands-on approach by the ministers, with the President leading from the front. President Ali demonstrated how responsive he is to the people’s needs because his announcement was made after a resident requested a house lot, for which she is in dire need. According to a release, the houselots will be available in the Charity and Lima New Housing Scheme.  The Head of State declared that more than $5 billion will be invested in the region before the end of 2020.

Additional to the house lot distribution, the President promised the residents that investments in the region will include, but not be limited to the construction of a water treatment plant, additional power-generating capacity, a $50 million road programme, and a $70 million sea defence programme at Suddie, the distribution of more than 4,500 cash grants and also the enhancement of the Supenaam Development Waterfront Project.  He said that the aim of the outreaches that are happening in every region is to resolve issues that are faced by residents and promised that a Rapid Response Team will be established to solve outstanding issues expeditiously. At that venue land titles that had been pending for years were issued to persons. President Ali went down to meet with those unable to climb the stairs and address their concerns, especially issues pertaining to NIS matters.

The President’s announcement of the Region Two house lot distribution follows Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal’s revelation at a contract-signing ceremony done at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, that over $1B in contracts has been awarded to upgrade infrastructure at housing schemes According to the Housing Minister, some 40 contracts to the tune of over $1B were awarded to 22 companies for upgrades to these areas. He explained, “When we provide and make available house lots, we want to make sure the infrastructure is in place. We have, for this year alone, allocations being made of 2,300 house lots.” The contracts include road upgrades in Eccles, Herstelling, Parfaite Harmonie, Great Diamond, as well as works on access roads in La Bonne Intention (LBI), Ordinance, Williamsburg, and Experiment. Works will also be done on a number of internal roads, including at Mon Repos, Prospect and Providence.