THE election period is often dubbed the ‘silly season’ because some politicians make outrageous promises they have no intention of honouring. When it comes to making empty promises, you can bet your last dollar that the PNC will not disappoint. Indeed, since Independence, the PNC has been known for making promises that it is incapable of honouring or never intended to deliver. During the 1970s, this party promised to “feed, clothe, and house the nation”. However, by the end of their three decades in power, the country became one of the most impoverished in the Western Hemisphere, and squatting was the only viable means of obtaining shelter for countless citizens. This tragic history is well documented.

In his book titled From Autocracy to Democracy in Guyana, Odeen Ishmael provides a comprehensive account of the failure of the PNC’s “pie in the sky” five-year plan to feed, clothe, and house the nation. In the area of housing, the PNC promised to build 65,000 housing units by the end of 1976. However, according to the statistics, only 4,167 housing units, or 6.5 per cent, were completed. Because of the colossal failure of the PNC’s housing programme, an estimated 108,000 people lived in squatter settlements during the early 1990s, according to the United Nations. In these squatter settlements, the citizens had no access to sanitary facilities, potable water, or essential infrastructure.

Fortunately, the housing situation was reversed by the PPP/C when it was voted into office in 1992. During the first five years of the PPP/C government, more than 21,000 house lots were distributed, and by 2015, this figure had grown to 115,000. Beyond simply distributing house lots, the PPP/C made housing more affordable through various initiatives, including the lowering of interest rates on mortgages, offering housing subsidies, and providing mortgage interest relief (MIR), among other measures. Between 1991 and 2012, the housing stock of the country increased by more than 42 percent due to the housing initiatives of the PPP/C.

In its new incarnation, the APNU-AFC, the PNC promised the electorate in 2015 to provide every Guyanese with access to affordable housing through innovative financing for housing, mortgage interest support, and incentives for aided self-help. However, staying true to form, the APNU-AFC not only failed to deliver on its promises but inflicted severe damage to the housing sector. The decimation of the housing sector was initiated with the conversion of the Ministry of Housing to a department of the Ministry of Communities. The party continued its destruction of the

housing sector by shifting from the distribution of house lots and construction of homes to experimenting with attached houses (or duplexes) when no legislative framework existed for that housing model. The APNU-AFC also limited the Mortgage Interest Relief to $15 million and imposed VAT on building materials. Unsurprisingly, a new wave of squatting emerged.
Now that another election season is upon us, the PNC is once again promising to make housing accessible to citizens who have reached the age of 18, at no cost. Given its historical track record in the area of housing—33 years in power, from 1966 to 1992 and 2015 to 2020—this new pledge by the PNC should be taken with a “bag of salt” and not “just a pinch”. History shows that the PNC’s promises have repeatedly been honoured in the breach.

I urge all voters to remember our history. More importantly, I would like them to heed a sign in Jonestown that famously read: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Let us heed this warning, think critically, and avoid being seduced by cheap political rhetoric. In other words, avoid drinking the Cool Aid served by the PNC during this silly season.
Regards,
Kevin Persaud