Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali says works are moving apace in the East Bank housing development project when he toured the area on Wednesday.
According to a Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) Ali said some of the funds from a 2010 supplementary provision were used to purchase land from the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the rest is being spent on developing infrastructure. The minister explained that the project is a massive housing development which at its conclusion would see the 15,000 house lots established. Consideration will also be given for space for economic development. Some house lots are expected to be ready by April month end.
The minister said the first area that will be developed stretches for 1500 feet immediately aback Eccles, which at the end of the ongoing clearing exercise will yield the first 1000 house lots. It is bordered on one side by the Agricola main canal and on the other side by Providence.
“The first investment, in terms of infrastructure is more than $800M,” Ali said. Work has also started on the main high dam at Providence with the intention of opening up all the lands immediately behind the Guyana National Stadium. Ali said that the area has about 200 acres of land that would be set aside for commercial development. He also mentioned the construction of businesses, malls and call centres that would generate income and create employment while acting as a support structure for the scheme.
The second phase will see the completion of the area’s main access road currently at the design phase, which should see works starting soon, the release said. The much-touted Public/Private partnership that government has embarked on with about 13 developers, establishing about 300-400 acres of land from the Stadium to the Mocha Arcadia main road will soon start. GINA said a special area is also to be developed for remigrants, which falls immediately after the commercial zone to the East Bank Public Road.
Ali said development in these areas is to run simultaneously with the expansion of the East Bank corridor. He said too that the Herstelling component of the project will see about 600 house lots distributed.
The minister said he was confident that the 17,000 house lots target set by President Bharrat Jagdeo for distribution by September will be surpassed by a large margin by August month end.
