The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is looking for more sponsors to showcase their products and services at its upcoming Housing Solutions and Beyond Expo 2017, which will be held at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara.
CH&PA Public Relations Officer Jenelle Carter yesterday issued an appeal to corporate Guyana to support the expo, which will run for four days from May 26.
Carter said so far they have managed to secure sponsorship from 20 entities, including Gaico Constructions, Gafoors, Courts, the New Building Society and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).
She said that they are appealing to anyone and everyone, from landscapers to gardeners and janitorial service persons to come on board for the expo. She also said that sponsors can check out the site at Perseverance and meet with their project manager and then contact them at the ministry, which would provide a space for them.
Carter said the Communities Ministry has moved from the notion of just providing houses and lots for Guyanese towards promoting cohesive, empowered and sustainable communities, which would be the central theme for the expo.
The ministry is working to complete 30 model homes to showcase the range to the intended buyers at the expo. The homes being constructed at Perseverance include ground level duplexes, elevated duplexes as well as single flat homes and single elevated homes, most of which are on almost 600 to 1000 square feet of land being built by the Communities Ministry and 14 private contractors.
According to Carter, the event would give persons a chance to see how the homes being offered will look when they are fully furnished. She added that it will give furniture stores, such as Courts and Kissoons, an opportunity to furnish an entire home for the model buildings at Perseverance. “When you walk into the home, you would not just be seeing an empty structure, you will be seeing what your bedroom, kitchen and living room would look like so that is why we are calling on more companies to come on board,” she explained.
She noted that the model homes will be up for sale at the end of the expo and persons can prequalify themselves at the expo for the homes. As a result, she urged that those interested in the homes take along the necessary documents in order to prequalify themselves for the available homes.
She noted that the homes that are being built by private contractors have arranged finances. “If a person visits the expo and sees a home they are interested in, they can engage with the developer, get a letter of interest from them, [and] Housing starts the process by working out the sale of the land,” she said.
She added that if persons wish to go through a bank, they can prequalify themselves at the bank and then CH&PA can provide them with a letter to take to the bank and then they take it from there with the private developer.
Carter said that persons interested in having a booth can call or go into the Ministry of Communities at Brickdam. “Persons can come in a week before the expo… we will not be turning persons away if they come,” she said, while noting that the ministry has provided different ranges of booths at different costs for those who are interested.
