–says Minister Croal

WHILE noting that work on the low-income houses at plots 1,767 and 1,768 Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, is progressing smoothly, Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal announced, on Wednesday, that the first set of beneficiaries will be able to occupy their homes next month.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event, he told reporters that Phase One of the two-phased project is almost complete.

“We are about to complete the first round. We have about two hundred houses we are building, we have persons that are pre-qualified through our system so the beneficiaries are all awaiting to have access to their homes,” the minister said, adding: “We are currently working on the second phase which will be the additional one hundred. So, it is an ongoing process, and we are pleased about the progress for those elevated houses.”

He added that several of the homes are already complete and are ready for occupancy. “They have some that are complete already and we have persons who have already pre-qualified, and they have their letter to signify their ownership.”

Meanwhile, the minister noted that construction for the second phase of the project is underway despite the hiccups earlier in the year.
“We ran into a few persons who were illegally occupying the area, so we did the settlement. There were some farming activities taking place and so that is out of the way.”

Additionally, Minister Croal disclosed that a similar project is underway at Ogle, East Coast Demerara. He noted that contractors have started land preparation for the housing project in that area and upon completion the construction of one-storey houses will commence.

He added: “There was a small portion of land that we had an issue within terms of the Ogle Airport in terms of the flight path. We have clearance there and we have to do some land preparation for that. Thirty acres have been identified so when the land preparation is complete, we will start construction of flat houses.”

He noted that before the end of the year, the Ministry of Housing will be rolling out several house and land allocation exercises across the country.
“We are not down scaling as yet. Within another two weeks we should be having three or four allocation exercises ….so you’ll see that we are actually still winding down in the Ministry of Housing and Water,” Minister Croal said.