APPROXIMATELY 400 house lots were distributed for Plantation Farm, East Bank Demerara, when the Ministry of Housing and Water conducted its 10th ‘One Stop Shop’ exercise yesterday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Just a week ago, 800 high income house lots were processed for allottees for the new Herstelling Scheme, East Bank Demerara, also at the National Stadium. Then allottees were afforded an opportunity to acquire high income land for $140,000- $600,000.
This time around, the smallest lot which the ministry allocated costs $1.8M, which, when valued in the private sector, would cost about $6-8M. The Housing Ministry is investing $845M in the development of Plantation Farm which is 75 percent completed. The area has 449 lots and brings direct benefit to 1840 persons, Housing Minister Irfaan Ali said.
Government has been investing heavily on the East Bank Demerara, as it seeks to target development from the entire area from Eccles to the existing Great Diamond Housing Scheme.
Minister Ali said that this development will see 20,000 new house lots being created, as well the expansion of the roadway and the creation of new alternative access routes. “We are trying to expand the East Bank, the area behind Ogle airport, and then we are hoping to connect that area with the East Bank, initially with Eccles, then moving forward to Herstelling by an alternative by-pass route,” Minister Ali said.
He said that the investment on the East Bank is huge, noting, “It is necessary to ensure our people benefit from improved standards of living, to ensure that we continue to have the creation of wealth.”
The minister said that housing is perhaps the single most dynamic sector when it comes to the creation of wealth, and most importantly, building personal equity.
In the past week, close to 2500 house lots have been processed as a result of the ‘One Stop Shop’ programme; 800 high income house lots were distributed for allottees for the new Herstelling Scheme, East Bank Demerara, 646 house lots for persons who were allocated lots in the Hope/Experiment Housing Scheme, and 559 house lots for the Kilcoy/Chesney housing development.
In June this year, 1075 lots were distributed for the new housing area in Providence, on which government spent in excess of $1B, transforming swamps into modern service lots.
This catered for the installation of 30 kilometres of pipelines, the construction of 30 km of access roads, 100 drainage structures and 20 access bridges.

The Ministry of Housing this year had targeted spending more than $4.1B on the East Bank that will see upgrading of several miles of road in Diamond, construction of a new Mocha/Arcadia access road, and development of more house lots.
The housing sector in Guyana over the last five years has seen tremendous growth, both in the private and public sectors, and government over the next five years, will continue to bridge the infrastructural gap.
In this regard, he said government is striving to achieve 30,000 more house lots within the next five years.(GINA)