–first round of work to be completed in a matter of weeks, says Minister Rodrigues

DEVELOPMENT of the necessary infrastructure at the new housing scheme at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast of Demerara (ECD), is moving apace, with contractors set to complete the first round of work within a week.

The ongoing work at LBI, according to Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues, is a continuation of efforts to install the necessary infrastructure in order to facilitate housing construction in the area.
“The work there in LBI is simply a continuation of infrastructural work to make sure that we put in the necessary infrastructure, so that allottees could occupy their house lots,” Minister Rodrigues told the Sunday Chronicle.

Some of the lots were allocated by the former A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition administration, although the necessary infrastructure was not in place.

“You would recall that from January to August [2020], approximately 2,000 allocations were made by the Coalition Government and no infrastructure was in those areas, so we immediately commenced the infrastructural works in those areas so that those allottees could occupy the lots,” Minister Rodrigues said.
Some $20 million was allocated last year for the upgrade to the LBI access road. The contract for this project was awarded to GuyAmerica Construction Inc. Other sums were also awarded last year for more infrastructural works in the area.

“We also have the new contracts which we just awarded for the infrastructural works for the allocations we made,” Minister Rodrigues related, adding that the ongoing work is set to be completed in a few weeks.

The development of the new housing scheme at LBI is just one in a slew of infrastructural advancements ongoing in the housing sector. Access to adequate housing is viewed as a basic human right, and considered to be an integral factor for the enjoyment of other economic, social and cultural rights. And, with Guyana’s economy poised to quadruple in the coming years, the government has started establishing the conditions for Guyanese, especially from the low and middle-income brackets, to have access to adequate housing.

The government recently injected some $13.9 billion into the development of new infrastructure, and the construction of houses, a project that will benefit over 8,000 families.
In a disaggregation of the government’s latest investment in the housing sector, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal said some $12 billion will go towards new infrastructural works, while $1.8 billion will be utilised for the construction of houses.

Those funds are being channelled directly through 199 contracts, which were awarded officially to contractors who received their signed agreements from the relevant authorities at a simple ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre last Tuesday.