$1.1B in infrastructure contracts to allow for allocation of house lots next year

Since the PPP government took office in August this year, there have been no allocation of house lots but over 1000 persons have applied for one since then.

This is due mainly to poor infrastructure and the lack of water and electricity in areas identified to be developed for housing, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal told the media on Monday.

As a result, approximately $1.1 billion in contracts were signed for road upgrades, the building of bridges bridges as well as construction of internal roads, and the installation of light and water connections in communities in Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6.

“I have been asking for patience from the persons who are waiting in the system.

“The reason for that is that… we are raising capital for further infrastructure and housing programmes and once that is finalized you can expect allocations being done in large numbers from next year,” the Minister stated.

The Minister said the previous APNU+AFC administration allocated over 2,000 house lots but there was no access to the land and no water or electricity connectivity.

“When we provide and make available house lots, we want to ensure that the infrastructure is in place so that you can speak directly about home ownership,” the Minister said.

Twenty-two contractors signed 40 contracts on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. Over $600m will be spent to upgrade roads and bridges alone, while for the East Bank corridor a total of $426M will be injected for upgrade works and on the East Coast a further $100M will be spent.

Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Sherwyn Greaves said areas the contracts will be rolled out in include Eccles, Herstelling, Cummings Lodge, La Bonne Intention, Recht-Door-Zee, Parfaite Harmonie, Ordinance Fortlands, Mon Repos, Zeelugt, Annandale, Williamsburg, Prospect, Bladen Hall, Vigilance and Strathspey along with Diamond.

All contractors were urged to produce quality and timely execution of work. The Ministry stated that there will be zero tolerance for slothful work and contractors will be held accountable for substandard work and even face legal action.

“Let us stop cutting corners and deliver to the Guyanese people durable projects that are sustainable,” Minister Croal said.

Additionally, within another week the ministry will be signing more contracts under the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme to the tune of $535M for construction works and upgrading of roads and bridges in the Liliendaal, Pattenson, Turkeyen and Cummings Park area.