THE Ministry of Housing and Water has allocated over 20,500 house lots, established 44 new housing areas, upgraded and installed infrastructure in 43 existing housing areas, built 827 low, moderate, and young professional houses, and another 527 were in various stages of construction by the end of 2022. The investment cost for these houses is estimated to be more than $7 billion.

This was complimented by the enactment of the Condominium Act of 2022, which was assented to by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and the regulations gazetted, which now give legal protection to the owners of the duplexes built under the Coalition so that they can now receive titles for their homes, use it as collateral for loans, and be able to insure their properties.

This Condominium Act, which received only partial support from the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), which built the duplexes and left the owners in limbo, will also give investors more opportunities to introduce more modern methods of housing.

It is long overdue and has brought tremendous relief to the forty-odd owners of the duplexes and their families.

Further, the Housing Ministry regularised six areas and reduced squatter settlements from nineteen to thirteen while 4256 certificates of titles and transports were processed.

The government had also injected more than fifty billion dollars into the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). It commissioned and completed a study on regularizing squatter settlements while legislation was tabled in the National Assembly for the establishment of the Single Window System for Development Permits.

This legislation will now pave the way for a more cohesive, less bureaucratic, and more efficient system for submitting, processing, and approving all planning and development applications.
The coming on stream of the Single Window is testimony to the vision of transformation that government is promoting.

Government will use technology to implement processes that can deliver outcomes that are both people-focussed and cost-effective.
Additionally, the Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has not wavered from its commitment, and they have acknowledged, understood, and appreciate citizens’ aspirations to be homeowners.

However, the government is equally aware of the disparities in their earning power. Added to this is the cost of land and construction. The burden of buying or building a house is not a new phenomenon. The demand for housing is not new. It has increased exponentially, and today it is at an all-time high.

And though times have changed, the government continues to subsidise housing by allocating house lots at significantly reduced prices while regularizing old squatter settlements and resolving the issue of squatters who occupy government reserves.

It was the PPP/C government, upon their return to government in 2020, that allocated $8 billion for housing development and new infrastructure. In 2021, $15 billion; in 2022, $25 billion; in 2023 $50 billion.

Government has already introduced the cement and steel subsidy, which is available to any new home builder for their foundation to commence their home.

The demand for housing is so high to begin building houses that government commenced a robust programme. As houses are under construction in various categories, $50 billion will be being expended for new and existing areas.

In the water sector, the administration has recorded a 97 per cent increase in access to water while over 28,000 pensioners are receiving free water subsidies for $523 million, and transmission and distribution networks and mains are being extended.

By 2025, Guyana will have a modern four-lane bridge across the Demerara River, an onshore gas pipeline and natural gas plant; new and more developed road and water networks; the skyline will be transformed with an influx of modern architecture and the people of Guyana will benefit from better and more immediate access to social and health services; the Manifesto promise of fifty thousand house lot allocation will be kept, and above all else, the people of our country will enjoy a more comfortable life.

These actions reveal that the government is building, fortifying and consolidating the confidence that the electorate has placed in the PPP/C administration, and the evidence of its competence will guide the nation.