CH&PA opens house lot distribution exercise

The Ministry of Housing and Water through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has commenced its ‘Dream Realised Housing Drive 2020’ land allocation exercise.

The two-day event which commenced at the Guyana National Stadium Providence yesterday saw more than one thousand eight hundred applicants.
The event was attended by key Housing Ministry officials, including Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal, Minister within the Ministry of Housing, Susan Rodrigues and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) within the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) Sherwin Greaves.

In an address to the participants, Minister Rodrigues said that the exercise is in keeping with the government’s manifesto commitment to distribute 4,000 houselots before the end of 2020. She noted that it is also part of their target to allocate at least 10,000 house lots per year.

Despite the challenges, she said that the Ministry vigorously pursued its work programme to ensure homeownership countrywide. The Junior Housing Minister said that the work was hampered by the fact that the previous administration left no systems in place to access available lands, infrastructure and other measures necessary to create or enhance housing.

She said the CH&PA had to overcome substantial odds to fulfill its housing commitments.
“All of the odds were against us when we took office in August of this year. People had lost confidence in housing because, by the previous administration’s own admission, they had only allocated 7,000 house lots in five years, “the Minister added.
Meanwhile, CEO Greaves noted ‘Dream Realised’ is an important initiative in delivering the proposed 50,000 house lots over five years.

“His Excellency has a mandate that we allocate 3,000 before the end of the year. We will be allocating 3,500, 500 more than mandated,” he said. Next week, the Ministry is taking Dream Realised back to Berbice, and there are plans to host it in Region Three.