Berbice residents given steel & cement vouchers to help with constructing their houses

(Press release from Ministry of Housing) – More than 40 Berbicians received the Steel and Cement Housing Subsidy vouchers during an outreach at the Regional Housing Office in New Amsterdam, Region Six on Wednesday.

A number of the beneficiaries were presented their vouchers by the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal; Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Mr. Sherwyn Greaves; and Regional Chairman, Mr. David Armogan.

Minister Croal stated that the vouchers represent an injection of over $9 million to push homeownership in the region.

More than a 1,000 vouchers have been issued to landowners across the country. In Region Six, some 90 were previously distributed, with Wednesday’s exercise taking the numbers to approximately 130.

“As a Government we recognize our commitment and our mandate to help in the sense of homeownership,” said the Minister.

The CEO in his remarks also emphasised the significance of fostering homeownership in the region and urged beneficiaries to maximize the value of their building material vouchers.

Minister Croal also spoke to a number of initiatives from the Housing Ministry to ensure that Region Six residents benefit from the national housing programme.

Over 1,300 house lots were allocated in the region over the past few years and 200 homes were constructed. Since 2020 the Ministry has expended over $25 billion for infrastructure projects in these schemes and home construction.

To address the region’s current backlog of house lot applications, the Minister said that the Ministry is seeking to acquire more lands. He highlighted the challenge of balancing competing interests, particularly with the agriculture sector, upon which Region Six heavily relies. Further, the construction of young professional homes is slated for the Palmyra Housing Development.

As part of the outreach, the Minister and CEO also addressed housing and water issues affecting residents, who had the chance to voice their concerns.

Director of Community Development, Mr. Gladwin Charles and other technical staff of CH&PA, as well as, representatives from the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) were also on the ground assisting the residents.

Meanwhile in Region Five, the Ministry also hosted an outreach, which allowed around sixty (60) persons allocated lands at the Balthyock Housing Scheme to process their Agreement of Sale and sign-up for their Land Titles.