MINISTER of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, is urging Guyanese not to fall prey to fraudsters who promise to get them a house lot, emphasizing that only the ministry and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) are authorized to carry out such transactions.

“We are also aware that those persons will ask you to pay them to help you get the lot. I want to say this, you do not have to pay anyone to get a house lot,” Minister Croal told people at the first ‘Dream Realised’ Housing Drive for 2022 which was held on Friday last at the Guyana National Stadium, at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

He urged people to report these unscrupulous characters to the ministry.

“I’d like it if you can bring to our attention the names of persons who are offering to help you get the house lots. Once your application is in, you are guaranteed to get one. Granted, it may take some time, but as we have demonstrated these past months we are working quickly to ease the backlog.

“I appreciate that waiting can become frustrating at times, but the requirements for the development of a housing area are quite considerable,” Minister Croal contended.
Land acquisition, he added, can be a painstaking process.

“We have promised to allocate house lots in areas that have at least the basic infrastructure like electricity, water, roads, green spaces and other similar elements that make the area complete.”
Minister Croal noted that the CH&PA has introduced e- applications and submissions for land allocation for both residential and commercial uses.

“So, before you had to travel from Essequibo or Berbice or Linden to get a status update on your application, now you can do that by just visiting the website and inputting your information.

“Additionally, we have established offices in Regions Two, Three, Five, Six, Nine and 10 where you can make enquiries about your allocation status. These systems are designed to reduce the challenges that existed before,” Minister Croal emphasied.

He continued: “I wish to reiterate the government’s commitment to reducing the demand of subsidised housing and remind you that, at the end of last year, we made ten thousand allocations. This year we will surpass that amount. We intend to make affordable housing available to every Guyanese in keeping with the theme of ‘One Guyana’.”