Over 400 house lots available in new Reg. 2 housing scheme

A new housing scheme- Hoff Van Aurich- has been developed in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), and there are about 400 lots available for distribution to residents along the Essequibo Coast.

The Hoff Van Aurich Housing Scheme was developed on about 102 acres of land and is situated about 1.5 miles from the main access road. Already, plans are in place to expand the scheme.

The Ministry of Housing and Water on Friday hosted a ‘Dream Realised’ housing drive at Anna Region, Essequibo.

Addressing those gathered, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, said the demand for housing continues to grow across the country.

Despite this, he said the government has not increased the value of land. Rather, he said the cost of land is heavily subsidised.

“So it is very easy to say land is in abundance, but we also have to compete with interests for land use,” Croal said.

In Region Two, Croal said over 1,271 lots were allocated over the past five years. And from 2011 to date, he said over 226 lots were regularised.

Meanwhile, over $3.3 billion has been expended to conduct infrastructure work to develop housing in the region.

Croal acknowledged that there are areas where persons were allocated lands, but have not yet been able to see where their lands are situated. This, he said, is for various reasons. In Charity, for instance, he said there is an issue of flooding.

“Work has already started and we can easily show people their lot today, but…when we show you your lot, you must be able to start building tomorrow,” Croal said.

Over at Onderneeming, he said persons have been living on lots which do not belong to them. This issue, Croal said, is being “aggressively” addressed by the ministry.

The overall aim is to ensure that all eligible citizens have access to their land, Croal said.