— President says revenue will benefit poor and low-income persons

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday evening, said that the government was looking to have 300 prefabricated housing units set up to host tourists during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket season later this year and the proceeds from same will go to benefit poor and low-income persons.

The President was, at the time, speaking at the launch of the 2022 International Building Expo where he noted that just as the CPL has been launched and set to take place here in September, hotels are already out of rooms based on the tremendous feedback received thus far.

As a result, President Ali said that talks were held with a number of stakeholders recently to launch a bed and breakfast registry in collaboration with the Guyana Tourism Authority to have rooms available for the influx of tourists expected later this year.

“We are looking at a very innovative model…. we are looking at a way in which we can marry cricket with uplifting people out of poverty,” he said.

Against this background, he noted that lands will be set aside to build some 300 prefabricated homes to host persons during the tournament in Guyana. The revenue earned from this, he noted, will go towards down payments to banks for poorer persons.

“The prefab homes will be used to host people during cricket, to rent and the revenue from that rental will go as down payment to the banks for the poorest persons. So, the 10 per cent to 15 per cent that they have to find for the bank will come from the revenue that that building earns for two weeks,” President Ali said.

That, he noted was the type of innovation that the government was working towards, even as these endeavours will change the face of the country.