Close to 1,000 house lots for Shieldstown residents; first 360 houses to be built soon

More than $2 billion is being expended to develop the Shieldstown Housing Scheme on the West Bank of Berbice (WBB) in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and already, 360 of the 999 allottees have been given access to their lands to start building.

To date, a total 713 house lots have been allocated in the community.

And following the lot identification exercises over the past two days, 360 of the allottees were shown their house lots. To claim ownership, they placed sign boards bearing their names and lot numbers.

This means that they can now proceed to commence constructing their houses. The News Room on Wednesday spoke to some of the beneficiaries.

Having waited for a number of years, single parent Haimwantie Haniff said she is excited to have bene awarded a house lot.

“I am so proud of have this land. I am so happy because I have two kids and I am a single parent,” she said.

Meanwhile, first time applicant, Travis Rampaul is satisfied that the system has delivered.

“I feel real good because it’s my first try applying for a house lot,” Rampaul said.

He added, “With the quick process, I got through really fast.”

As efforts continue to develop the Shieldstown Housing Scheme, 66 per cent of infrastructural works have been completed to date.

The works include land filling, land clearing, the construction of roads and culverts and the installation of water network which will allow access to the house lots.

At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Water disclosed that the ministry is on target of achieving its goal of distributing 50,000 house lots by 2025.

Already, they said 30, 468 lots were distributed.