PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has squashed allegations that Afro-Guyanese will be left out of government’s massive housing programme.

During a press conference on Thursday he reiterated that his government aims to provide all Guyanese with equal opportunities.

According to Jagdeo, opposition operatives are misleading people by causing fear and spreading lies that the government will neglect Afro-Guyanese and not make them a part of development plans.

Stating that he has already been receiving calls from a number of Afro-Guyanese on this topic, Jagdeo stated: “So I would urge people to not look at this.”

Pointing out that opposition activists have their own hidden agenda, he said that within this month alone some 7,000 house lots are being developed in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) as part of the PPP government’s drive to provide 50,000 house lots to Guyanese by the year 2025.

This new housing development, the Head of State said, will take place in the vicinity of the planned Schoonord to Parika thoroughfare.

In light of the rapid pace of development in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region, President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali had also spoken of plans for a commercial district in Leonora, along with a professional residential area.

The development of lands in the region will help to address the backlog of 14,000 applications which are currently sitting in the database of the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) awaiting allocation.

Additionally, under the government’s turn-key initiative, some 200 housing units are expected to be constructed in Anna Catherina and Meten-Meer-Zorg, targeting low and moderate-income earners.

Further, under the Inter-American Development (IDB) funded Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme, 25 core homes have been constructed for vulnerable families in Lust-en-Rust, Onderneeming, La Parfaite Harmonie, Recht-Door-Zee and Westminster.

Those new developments, President Ali said, will be complemented by a $52 billion (US$260 million) new Demerara Harbour Bridge.

In May, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal had announced that as the ministry’s 2022 allocation drive continues, some 15,000 applicants will be served.

“Our President has given a charge to aim for 25,000 homes over the five-year period, and so, while we will allocate 50,000 house lots, simultaneously, we will be constructing houses,” Minister Croal said.

Meanwhile, the President during a press conference earlier this month disclosed that infrastructural investment has grown by 340 per cent from approximately $17.2 billion in 2021 to around $53.3 billion in 2023, as Guyana experiences a development boom and sector expansion.

He also noted that the government through the Ministry of Housing has allocated some 23,698 house lots, outside of those allocated just two days ago.

President Ali said the housing sector has supported upwards of 50,000 jobs over the past few years.

“Given the average price for house lots and the actual costs of investment in infrastructure by the government, an average low-income allottee receives a 97 per cent subsidy from the government. A low or middle-income allottee receives a 74 per cent subsidy from the government. This is the investment the government is making every time someone is allocated a house lot,” Dr Ali said.