–President Ali says; rejects opposition’s ‘misinformation, propaganda’

ALTHOUGH almost 21,000 acres of land was developed for the ordinary Guyanese, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said that the opposition will ignore these sorts of achievements because it does not suit their agenda.
During a live broadcast on Thursday, the President roasted the opposition for not only failing to develop the lives of Guyanese while they were in office, but also for continuing to push narratives that seek to disrupt the peace.
Addressing developments in the housing sector, Dr. Ali said: “Since we came into government, almost 21,000 acres of land was developed for housing, more than 90 per cent of which went directly to low-income, moderate-income, middle-income and high-income housing development for young professionals.”
While stating that the opposition would not speak about this, President Ali said this is so because: “That does not suit their agenda, because their agenda is to create mischief. Their agenda is to always create division, unease within the society.”
He then cautioned Guyanese to be careful, given the opposition’s objective.

The Head of State told citizens: “What they’re trying to do is to circumvent the reality and to create misleading narratives to drive interest, and to drive the population’s interest down that road.”
While the opposition continues to cry corruption in an attempt to drive attention away from the ongoing development in the country, Dr. Ali once again shattered the spurious claims surrounding the government’s land policy.
Less than 10 per cent of the total acreage of lands were allocated to private developers and commercial purposes within the last four years, and, as the President said, those allocations go through a rigid process.
However, he said that the opposition is not interested in this, because they are interested in “propaganda and misinformation”.

With the projected allocation of three times the initial 10,000 house-lot allocation target this year alone, the government is well on its way to surpassing its overall target of 50,000 house lots before the end of 2025.
Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal had made this announcement during Day One of the Committee of Supply’s Consideration of Estimates and Expenditure for the 2025 Budget.
“In keeping with our Manifesto commitment, we have 10,000 house lots remaining [to be allocated], but we can do more, and we are going to do more. And we will triple this; we will do this by 300 per cent. As a result, we have been able to move beyond the 10,000. In our engagements with the various regions, we have been able to come up with our target…,” Minister Croal posited.

According to the minister, this achievement is as a result of strategic planning, infrastructural development, and increased investments in the housing sector.
He said that house lots will be distributed in all 10 administrative regions.

Providing a breakdown of allocations, Minister Croal stated that in 2020, 2,759 house lots were distributed, followed by 6,989 in 2021, 10,695 in 2022, and 9,056 in 2023.
A record-breaking 10,797 house lots were distributed in 2024. Already for this year, 512 were distributed.
To date, a total of 40,808 residential house lots have been allocated under the PPP/C government.

Since taking office, the government has prioritised home ownership opportunities for citizens, particularly low-and middle-income families.
Several initiatives have been undertaken to ensure an increase in the rate of housing development throughout the country.