–as Cane Grove regularisation progresses

THE regularisation of Cane Grove, Region Four is moving ahead as promised, and the Ministry of Housing-Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) will be working with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) and private lease owners to acquire at least 15 acres of land for the development of a formal housing scheme.
The Housing Ministry, in a release, said this was announced by Minister of Housing Collin Croal during an engagement with residents at the Virginia Primary School on Monday evening.
Also attending the meeting were Minister within the Ministry of Housing Vanessa Benn; Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony; Community Development Director of the CH&PA Gladwin Charles; CH&PA Surveyor Travis Fields; and Regional Democratic Councillor Neemawattie Baldeo.
Cane Grove is a large settlement made up of several smaller communities, including Strathavon, Hopeland, Virginia, Coconut Dam, Manager Drive, Sawai, Waterside Dam, Cane Grove Estate, Granny Field, and Back Street.
Before 1930, the area functioned as a sugarcane estate where many Indian indentured labourers were brought to work. When the estate was closed in 1946, some 3,000 residents remained and transitioned into farming other crops, helping to establish Cane Grove as a major agricultural zone.
Regularisation first began in 2011 on the Cane Grove Estate (Estate Yard) and the Coconut Dam Block, where occupation and cadastral surveys were completed by 2012, and more than 180 lots were regularised.
Efforts resumed in 2020 under the President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali government, as pockets of squatting still remained. A 2023 inventory recorded more than 50 unregularised structures in one section.
These portions of land, which fall under the GLSC, are currently leased to rice farmers and a Cattle Farmers Association. The ministry will be engaging the Association as part of the regularisation process.
“We recognise that you want a better environment for yourself; you want your children to come up in their own home, and we want to help,” Minister Croal said.
Minister Benn echoed this commitment, emphasising the government’s intention to support Cane Grove families. She also encouraged residents to work closely with the team as the process moves forward.
A team from CH&PA’s Community Development Department will return to Cane Grove on Sunday to continue working directly with residents.