President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has issued a call for a paradigm shift in the way Guyanese think and act if the country is to realise its full potential within the shortest limit of time.
This shift is already evident at the level of the PPP/C administration, which has taken a number of bold and strategic initiatives to lift Guyana and, by extension, Guyanese to higher levels of prosperity.

Speaking at the opening of the International Building Expo 2022 at the Guyana National Stadium, President Ali outlined a menu of measures aimed at ensuring that Guyanese own their homes at affordable costs.
This is especially so for low-income earners who are no longer required to have a percentage of the building cost deposited in the banks as a prior condition for obtaining loans for home construction.

This is indeed a major boost in terms of owning a home especially for low-income earners, many of whom are severely challenged to raise that initial sum to access bank loans even though they are in receipt of lands from the Housing Ministry.

But that is just one part of the story of homeownership. As President Ali said, incentives will be provided by way of some building materials, namely one sling of cement and steel for foundational work which are two of the high-cost items in building construction.

This facility is applicable for homes below $6 million but other categories will also benefit. For example, home builders above the $6 million to $25 million will receive two slings of cement in the construction process.
In addition to the above, interest rates for houses and buildings up to $9 million have now been further reduced to 3.8 per cent, thanks to the policy interventions by the PPP/C administration. These, along with the removal of value-added taxes on a range of building material is tantamount to a significant subsidy on the construction cost of homes and buildings by the government.

The private sector is also coming on board with special discounts on building materials for eligible individuals.
The fact is that there was never a better time for Guyanese to own their own homes, especially young people and professionals. This is perhaps the best start in life anyone can hope for.

Indeed, a growing number of young people are accessing bank loans to build their homes as reflected in the big increases in loans disbursed by the banking sector for building construction. As noted by President Ali, within the past two years, mortgages in Guyana went up by a significant $16 billion or 21 per cent, an indication of the drive by Guyanese to own their own homes.

Regrettably, a significant number of Guyanese under the past PNC administrations were unable to own their homes due to flawed policies and utter neglect of the housing sector.
The ‘Feed, House and Clothe’ (FCH) programme during the 1972-1976 period turned out to be a colossal failure and a mere 13,000 homes were actually built out of a projected 65,000! An entire generation of young people under the PNC regime had their dreams of owning homes shattered, many forced to erect shacks on squatted lands or condemned to live in rented apartments for the entire duration of their lives.

All of that has changed with the coming to office of the PPP/C administration on October 5, 1992. Today, owning a home is no longer a distant or unrealiseable dream. Full credit must be given to the PPP/C for making this possible. These are indeed the elements of a caring and people-centred administration.

As noted by President Ali, the PPP/C administration is undertaking a robust approach to ensure Guyana’s development soars by leaps and bounds and no amount of negative energy will stand in the government’s way as it positions itself to establish an international construct by 2030.

A strategic framework has been laid out for the massive transformation of the country based on a number of interlocking linkages and synergies encompassing infrastructure, human, technological and social transformation, economic diversification, international positioning and equitable and prosperous development.
This is indeed forward and visionary thinking on the part of President Ali which will certainly result in a new Guyana in consonance with the ‘One Guyana’ vision as articulated by the President.