Two hundred more house lots are to be developed in the Diamond-Grove housing scheme, East Bank Demerara, with the conversion of the reserves in Sections ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ Diamond and Section ‘C’ Grove, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday.
Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali along with senior officials and technical staff from his ministry met with the Diamond community on Monday to discuss and outline the development plan for the areas.
The consultation sought to address the needs and garner the community’s inputs.
He noted that there are some challenges which are hindering the development of services in the area and as a community and government, measures have to be put in place to mitigate and change the look of Diamond.
The challenges, he said, include unutilized playfields and lands that are earmarked for facilities which are not developed but are overgrown by trees and shrubs, congestion of traffic and vending at the scheme’s entrance, GINA reported.
“The plan is to rationalize the services in the area that is the open space, the playfields and other public facilities. What we have done is to strategically resurvey the area and we have identified a number of playfields that would be developed by CH&PA and handed over to the community and the NDC,” Ali is quoted by GINA as saying.
He noted that during the development of the scheme, the plan had entailed an occupancy rate of 90 percent but since a number of persons did not occupy their lots the ministry had to repossess them.
The problem of people not occupying the land within the given timeframe has resulted in the disfigurement of the environment and infrastructure with the growth of weeds and blocked drains and the waste of resources, he said.
Ali also disclosed that approximately $15M had been spent for maintenance work in the housing scheme and more resources will have to be provided.
The minister said further that the Diamond housing scheme is regarded as one of CH&PA’s largest emerging urban centres, and the expansion of services points to the fact that the value of property in Diamond is increasing tremendously.
Macro Plan
On July 10, the minister and other government officials met with private stakeholders to discuss a $500M plan to change the landscape of the housing scheme.
The plan includes the establishment of a paved corridor for traffic safety and pedestrian crossing, the establishment of a pedestrian walkway along the main highway, with a bus shed, and the construction of a tarmac facility for vending and parking of taxis.
Other facilities
Plans are also on the drawing board to establish a multi-purpose tarmac for sporting activities, including basketball, volleyball, grass track and a multi-purpose centre for Diamond/Grove that will serve the community’s educational needs.
The Diamond Housing Scheme is one of the fastest growing and largest housing areas in the country, with a population of about 40,000 people, GINA added.
