–as initiative continues to benefit country’s most vulnerable population, Minister Rodrigues says

STAYING true to its vision of providing a better quality of life for all, another five families on Friday received keys to their brand-new homes under the Core Home Support Programme.
According to a press release, the handing over signals new beginnings for these families who once had to endure less-than-desirable living conditions.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues shared in the proud moment with the Stanfords, Duncan, and Paul families, as she handed over the keys and Certificate of Inspection.
Leon Stanford, his wife and two children will soon be moving into their new home in Westminster, and so will Helena Duncan and her family of four, while Sophia Paul, along with her three children and one granddaughter, will be moving into her home at Rect-Door-Zee, West Bank Demerara.
Stanford expressed his gratitude to the Inter-America Development Bank, the government, and the ministry’s team, whom he said were relentless in seeing the project to the end.

For years, he and his family occupied a wooden structure and recently demolished it to pave the way for the construction of his new home, once he learned he had qualified for the Core Home under the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme.
He said: “We had a small wooden house and I didn’t have all the convenience, I have a wife and two kids one of my daughters is writing CXC and now we all have a place we can call home.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Duncan who said it finally feels great to have her own home without the fear of being asked to vacate at any time, and she can finally put her personal touch on making the house a home for herself, two daughters, and granddaughter.
For Paul, moving into her own home, marked the end of her paying thousands of dollars in rent.

Minister Rodrigues congratulated the first-time homeowners, noting that she is pleased to see that the programme is meeting its intended target group.
“The Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme is a main feature in our housing programme, and targets the most vulnerable population and that is through the Core Home Support component, and this allows families to acquire a home almost free of cost,” she said.

Each home, which features two bedrooms, a kitchen unit, and indoor sanitary facilities, is valued at $5 million with a financial contribution from the homeowners of $100,000.
Since the start of the programme, a total of 105 families have received keys to their homes to date.

Under the Core Home Support initiative, a total of 323 beneficiaries have been selected; 96 Core Homes have been occupied; 16 are under construction; another eight will be handed over soon and 188 are at the procurement stage. In Region Three, West Bank Demerara, 124 beneficiaries were selected, 50 homes were handed over, 40 were occupied, and 64 were at the procurement stage.