Georgetown: Even as the People’s National Congress-led A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition is preparing to unveil its 2015 manifesto on April 10, it has hinted that its housing policy will seek to reduce the prices which are currently being paid by citizens for house lots and low income homes.
APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon said the coalition strongly believes that house lots are not only discriminately distributed but the prices are too exorbitant in the country.
He related that under an APNU/AFC Government, the prices for house lots will be reduced along with the price for low income homes, in its quest to provide a better life for all Guyanese. Without divulging much detail in relation to the contents of the manifesto, Harmon said housing will receive special attention to ensure the small man gets a better share.
“We believe all Guyanese are entitled to a proper house. This country is too big for us to be getting a little small thing for a house lot… Guyanese deserve a better break and a better share of the national pie,” he added.
Harmon, who served as Shadow Housing Minister over the last three years, says he believes the coalition’s policy will see the utilisation of land and other resources in a more efficient way. “If we take out the corruption in some of these entities we will be able to deliver to the ordinary Guyanese man a better house at a cheaper price and the land at a lower price,” he reasoned.
According to the General Secretary, the ordinary citizen is often forced to pay large sums for a small plot of land while others are given large swaths of land for a small amount of money. This he said must stop.
Additionally, it was expressed that the policies of the coalition will seek to provide more than a house but to develop communities. “We want to ensure we build communities around the land that is going to be provided to citizens.”
Meanwhile, the AFC General Secretary, David Patterson has promised that the coalition will be unveiling massive plans for the country in its manifesto. Reports indicate that plans target education, security and social services.
On the other hand, AFC Executive Member Catherine Hughes stated that under an APNU/AFC Government, women will be given more respect and opportunities to foster and develop their full potential.
She noted that the coalition will work to provide more daycare facilities for working mothers, drop-in-centres for victims of abuse and domestic violence with more support services. Additionally, she said it will seek to have more micro credit loans available for women wanting to become entrepreneurs.
The coalition has also vowed that should it succeed, it will ensure that turnaround plans for the sugar and rice industries are drafted and implemented, so as to protect the lifeline of the sectors while sustaining the livelihood of those who are dependent on them.
“We would ensure that the sugar industry is reformed so that the poor worker turn out rate is turned around. I would engage the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) and the corporation on a turnaround plan for the sugar industry to protect the jobs of the working people in that industry. I would ensure that rice farmers are promptly paid or if the millers cannot pay them promptly, some form of stabilisation is established…to iron out the fluctuations,” the coalition’s Presidential Candidate, David Granger had also said.
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