Land preparation works are ongoing in several areas along the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) and once completed in November, thousands of people will be able to build and live in their own homes and establish commercial properties.
Presently, works to the tune of $64 billion are currently ongoing across the country to develop housing and infrastructure.
And according to the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, there are presently no lots available on the East Bank of Demerara since all have already been allocated.
Croal made the disclosure on Tuesday as he led a walkabout of the various blocks which are now being developed in Great Diamond, Little Diamond and Golden Grove on the East Bank of Demerara.
Among two of the blocks visited are commercial lots; altogether, there are more than 5,000 lots in these areas.
“We visited Blocks 1, 7, 11 and 13. That alone is about $13 billion and then we take block 18…the other area for commercial…we going up to about $18 to 19 billion,” Croal said.
He added, “This is about over 5,000 lots. Different lots – residential, industrial, commercial…those sort of things…Acreage, on average, over maybe about 1700 acres of land being developed.”
While the preparation works are ongoing, roads and bridges are also being built to link all the housing blocks.
“This is virgin land so we have to do the road, the culverts to ensure that drainage is done for all of these areas,” the Housing Minister said.
According to Croal, the first phase of the infrastructural works on the blocks are expected to be completed by November this year after which persons will be able to access their lots.
“When we finish our infrastructural programme, putting in all the necessary drainage, culverts and with the completion of the land preparation, the flooding issues and poor condition will not be existing because we would have done that improvement works,” Deputy Director of Projects at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) Intakab Indarjeet, said.
In the new week, Minister Croal is expected to meet with contractors who are involved in the projects and he will encourage them to take advantage of the upcoming dry season to get the work done in keeping with the deadline.
“The business community is waiting…the persons too who have been allocated commercial lands, they are awaiting too to invest…It’s massive work that is taking place right now,” Croal said.
Since assuming office, the government has embarked on a massive development agenda across the country which has seen thousands of house lots being allocated.
