The proposed single-window system for construction permits will allow persons to apply online, a move that will transform business here, according to Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal
A Bill that caters for the establishment of this system was tabled recently in the National Assembly.
This allows for the creation of a single-window electronic processing system meant to increase business efficiency, as the housing and construction industries expand.
And Croal, in an invited comment to the News Room said that once this Bill becomes law, any person seeking a construction permit in Guyana will benefit from a more efficient set of regulations.
“It’s allowing persons from anywhere in the world that has an investment here, that is making an application that they can do that application and they don’t have to come to CH&PA physically to get that done,” Croal said.
Beyond that, he said other cumbersome processes will be improved.
One such process is the “subjective” approval mechanism at local authorities, be it the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) or the municipalities.
“It became a very subjective issue because if somebody doesn’t like the other and it is held up on the ground and we [the Housing Ministry and the Central Housing and Planning Authority] are waiting on that feedback before we put it before the board,” the minister explained.
Similar challenges may be experienced at governmental agencies responsible for perusing and approving applications.
With the proposed law, however, the minister believes those issues will be eliminated. And according to him, applicants will benefit from greater “predictability”.
This single-window system has been touted by President Irfaan Ali as a means of ending longstanding woes in the construction sector.
At a recent event, he explained that a simple approval process will be created. With this, once an application is submitted, it is automatically sent to all of the relevant agencies; those agencies are tasked with responding within a fixed timeframe or else the applications will be deemed approved.
For many years, persons looking to start up a business have to move from agency to agency to fulfil various requirements. However, this initiative will improve the ease of doing business.
Using an electronic-based documentation system will reduce the time for steps that must be followed for transactions, filling the standardised application forms, and meeting the checklist and processing time.
