RESIDENTS along the East Bank Demerara (EBD) corridor turned out in their numbers on Friday at the Grove Market Tarmac to benefit from the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP).

The East Bank Demerara outreach targets low-income residents within the Georgetown to Grove boundary, who are interested in applying for core home support or a home improvement subsidy.

Staffers from the Ministry of Housing and Water’s Central Housing & Planning Authority assisted residents with their applications.
On the spot interviews were also facilitated throughout the day.

The core home support aspect affords families a chance at receiving a brand new 20ft x 20ft two-bedroom concrete home for a contribution of just $100,000.
Meanwhile, the home improvement subsidy enables persons in the target boundaries to receive up to $500,000 in materials to upgrade their homes free of cost.

The boundary currently encompasses the La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Development in Region Three; Georgetown to Grove on the East Bank of Demerara, Region Four; Georgetown to La Bonne Intention and 19 other select communities on the East Coast of Demerara, Region Four.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal said the reason for the ministry visiting the communities is to enable information sharing because persons have been visiting the various government offices and are asked to bring additional documents.

Secondly, he said the beneficiaries are more likely to come out if there is an outreach within the boundaries where the project covers.
“Applicants are able to prequalify and go through the actual application process along with the provision of legal advice in terms of ownership, because one of the issues we found is that persons may be living at a location but they do not have the necessary documents to prove ownership,” he noted.

At the current stage, Minister Croal noted that the application process closes on February 25, 2022, then after prequalification, successful applicants will become eligible then a list will be prepared with a final decision on successful applicants.

“Once you are eligible, it does not mean you have been approved for the subsidy… we have another 200 houses to be constructed, then we have to cut down to that amount and in the case of subsidies over a 1,000 persons.”

Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues said the response has been tremendous to the ministry’s outreaches.

She said 50 core homes have been delivered in Sophia, 50 in Parfaite Harmonie, 118 home improvement subsidies in Sophia and 118 in Parfaite Harmonie; however, currently communities along the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara are being targeted.

“So for the year already, just in 2022, in little over a month, this is our seventh outreach; we have people that were already prequalified from the East Coast and now we are on the East Bank and on Saturday we will be in Roxanne Burnham Gardens and that will be primarily to register persons for the home improvement subsidy,” Minister Rodrigues said.

Notably, she said government is focusing on more low income lots since this is the majority of applicants seen on a daily basis.

“We are building hundreds of low income homes across the country to promote home ownership and then we also have support and social programmes that assist the vulnerable directly that help them achieve home ownership as well,” Minister Rodrigues added.