Georgetown : The Government has set aside an amount of $1.9 billion in the 2015 National Budget, to facilitate its vision of “a nation housed in cohesive and sustainable communities,” Finance Minister Winston Jordan said.
Minister Jordan presenting the 2015 National Budget to the National Assembly today, noted that the allocation will provide opportunities for all Guyanese to improve their quality of life by owning their own homes. “The discriminatory allocation of prime high-income house lots, at bargain basement prices, to favoured friends and family, is over,” he told the House.
Minister Jordan said that “No longer will people suffer exploitation from the guardians of our housing sector and our housing stock. No longer will communities be set up without adequate infrastructure, essential support facilities and amenities to facilitate easy living and orderly development.”
According to Minister Jordan, the new Government will instead embark on a comprehensive layout of community planning and design, community infrastructure development, land divestment and squatter regularization. He said that in this holistic approach, all Guyanese will have access to serviced lots and housing. He said that Government intends to pursue a number of financing options to realise these objectives.
Further, he stated that Government will aim to regularise squatter households and will improve the availability and quality of housing in the hinterland communities. Minister Jordan also noted that Government is in the process of reviewing and preparing urban development plans for new towns, and that these four existing communities, namely Bartica, Lethem, Mahdia and Mabaruma will become townships before the end of 2016.
Minister Jordan explained too that the Government will commence the planning phase for the establishment of a new, cohesive community and the consolidation of the 1,000 homes project at Perseverance on the East Bank Demerara, and additionally will focus on the construction of the fifth batch of fifty two-bedroom houses at Perseverance. Further, a total of two hundred serviced lots will be allocated at Diamond/Grove, Farm, Covent Garden, Herstelling and Providence, he said.
Of the $1.9 billion provided for housing development, $1.6 billion has been allocated to continue infrastructure works, including roads, drains and structures, in housing areas such as Providence, Farm, Little and Great Diamond, Eccles, Sophia, Adelphi, Bloomfield and Cumberland.
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