–says several communities, beneficiaries to receive legal documents this year
PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has vowed to accelerate the regularisation of land and distribution of titles across Guyana noting that the relevant agencies are in the process of completing long-awaited ownership documents for several communities across the country.
Addressing a small group of residents from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) at State House on New Year’s Day President Ali praised the Ministry of Housing and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), led by Minister Colin Croal and Minister within the Ministry of Housing, Vanessa Benn, for what he described as “aggressive, hard work” to deliver land titles nationwide.
He noted that many communities had waited decades for ownership, with some residents facing nearly forty years of uncertainty over their titles.
The President acknowledged that delays had been caused by a mix of administrative and legal issues, as well as disputes over ownership, boundary lines and fences. He said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government is now focused on resolving these challenges so families can secure their ownership.
“This is a process we are going to continue…in different communities, to have the regularisation process and the ownership of land in areas that for decades we’ve been trying to compete and for various reasons, we have not been able to come to those areas because of different challenges, some administrative, some legal, some created by yourselves in terms of ownership, boundary line, fence line.”
President Ali recalled the regularisation of the Greenwich Park, Region Three area which began in 2009, but said work was disrupted between 2015 and 2020 when there was “a break in all development across our country”.
When the PPP/C government returned to office in 2020, new squatting and additional households had thrown earlier surveys and plans “in disarray”, forcing a restart of much of the technical work.
He outlined an ambitious list of communities now being targeted for completion in 2026, including Stewarville, Leonora, Den Amstel, Hague, Windsor Forest, Ankerville and Wales in Region Three along with Mon Repos, Plasiance and Vigilance on the East Coast of Demerara, among others. He cautioned that new migrant inflows into some areas were posing a “threat to the process”, but insisted that with collective effort and discipline, the government would deliver.
Meanwhile, Minister Benn told residents that the current exercise was part of a wider, continuous national programme rather than a one-off political gesture.
She reported that in Region Three alone, from 2020 to the end of 2025, thousands of titles had been processed, with 872 certificates of title distributed between January and November last year, and over 2,000 titles completed in 2025.
She highlighted that many communities had been waiting for titles for almost four decades,
Meanwhile Minister Benn emphasised that the team’s presence on New Year’s Day was a clear signal of the administration’s commitment to service.
She expressed hope that beneficiaries would “smile a little broader” as they received their titles and extended warm greetings for 2026 and the years ahead as the ministry looks to fulfill its mandate.
