40 receive on-the-spot house lots during Essequibo outreach

Some 40 residents of Charity, Anna Regina and Suddie in Region Two received on-the-spot house lots during an outreach conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Water on Friday.

The activity, which was led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves, was aimed at addressing long standing housing issues on the Essequibo Coast.

Wanita Holmes, a mother of four residing in Charity was one of the first persons to receive her house lot. She is currently residing on a farmland within the Charity area with her children.

Holmes told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that she was happy to receive her house lot which will allow her to provide a safe, stable and comfortable home for her four kids.

“I feel so happy because I was waiting a long time.  I just need a permanent home for my children…immediately I will pay for the lot and start to build my house as soon as possible,” Holmes said.

Homeownership has also become a reality for Jamal Hartman, a traffic rank attached to the Charity Police Station. The young rank has been living in Suddie for just over two years and is renting a house with his wife.

He applauded the Housing Ministry’s smooth land allocation process as he did not expect such a quick response regarding his house lot which will now allow him to build a home for his family.

“First of all, I would like to give God almighty the thanks. He has answered my prayers. Today, I feel overwhelmed and I thank the ministry for making this a success today. I am so happy to have my own land,” he stated.

A number of other issues were also addressed during the outreach, as CH&PA continues to work to address a number of land matters hampering housing development on the Essequibo Coast.

Cathleen Bagot, a re-migrant pensioner was especially grateful to have her land issue finally resolved after five years.

Baggot said she returned to Guyana five years ago with the hope of settling in Essequibo since she has roots there. However, she was given a royal run around to pay and receive documents for a piece of land that was allotted to her.

“It has been quite an adventure. I returned to this country and was told I can benefit from two categories. I was shown the piece of land but could not pay. I even write the former president but then with the elections and COVID the issue was stalled. So, I am happy to finally hear that everything has been taken care of,” she explained.

Thus far for 2021, over 700 persons received house lots in Charity and Onderneeming as part of the government’s target to deliver 50,000 house lots to Guyanese- 10,000 annually by the end of its first term in office.

The Ministry also plans to invest $1 Billion in infrastructural development within several new and existing housing schemes in the region. Works to be done includes the constructions of roads and bridges, instillation of street lights and the acquisition of lands for house lots allocation. (Extracted and Modified from the Department of Public Information)