350 Lethem residents get house lots

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal said no resident seeking a house lot will be turned away as the government hopes to meet people’s housing needs.

Croal said this as he addressed Lethem residents gathered at a ‘Dream Realised’ housing drive on Friday.

Appromxiately 350 residents were allocated house lots in Plantation Culvert City and Tract Housing 1, Lethem at the exercise. Some 70 Certificates of Title were also distributed.

The distribution has brought relief to many, including those who have been waiting for more than a decade. Fredericks Adams is one of those persons. He applied 14 years ago and kept trying until his application was successful.

While waiting, he even relocated to Georgetown.

“I never get through…I remigrated and come back to Lethem…I keep calling and calling I finally get through,” Adams told the News Room on Friday.

He will now be moving to build his own house.

“I feel good because you know I am entitled to a land. I coming and build my own house,” Adams said.

For Nicola Thomas, the financial burden of paying rent will be over soon.

“I live in rented apartment before and sometimes you move and go to different places and sometimes the rent is a bit high, we can’t afford to pay it,” Thomas told the News Room.

Thomas currently lives with her husband and daughter at a relative’s place.

“My plan is to build a house of my own so I can live more comfortable without paying rent for me and my family,” she said.

In his address to residents, Croal said following this exercise, the ministry will surpass 43,000 allocations.

“Young people use to say they have to wait until they get gray to get a lot….or they have to start walking with stick or wheel chair before they could get their lot.

“No one will be confined or turned away,” Croal said on Friday.
While emphasis is being placed on home ownership, Croal said persons who are allocated will receive their agreement of sale before the end of 2025.

“The cost for your lot that you are paying today is highly subsidised. You are not paying the true value of your land because your government is subsiding the cost.

“Now if you are even 23 and you are here in this region, you will have the opportunity to get the allocation and to own your own home…thereby giving an opportunity to aspire and in many cases to even start your family early,” Croal told those gathered.

In Region Nine, the Ministry has invested over $1.4 billion on infrastructural works in these communities where persons are allocated lots to ensure access.