One hundred and sixty-three house lot applications were processed on Friday, providing for about 652 persons, when the Central Housing and Planning Authority commenced its first phase of house lots distribution at the Albion Community Centre, Berbice for prospective home owners of Block 5, Ankerville, Port Mourant.
Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali, addressing the allottees at the One Stop Shop exercise, disclosed that more than $117M was invested to ensure that the lots became a reality, and he added that the exercise was just the beginning of more to come, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
“In 2011, across the country we have 18 One Stop Shops planned …once we aggressively implement our programmes we can push that up to 20 and with the hardworking staff at CH&PA we are going to be in the position to surpass that target,” Ali is quoted as saying.
In addition, Region Six will soon benefit from another such exercise that would see 200 lots being allocated to potential homeowners.
“By the end of the month Region Six will have 363 lots allocated. This is the first region that will be in the position to be looking at applications in 2011, which means we are slowly coming to meet the demands for house lots distribution in Region Six,” Ali remarked.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary Emile McGarrel said that the ministry would cater for the provision of roads, water and electricity in the housing schemes. So far drainage has been developed and 10.2 km of roads and pipes have been completed, he stated.
In 2010, there were 14 One Stop Shops, touching most of the regions, with over 10,000 lots being distributed in areas such as Tuschen, Mahdia, Fort Ordnance, Onderneeming, Hope Estate, Non Pariel, Amelia’s Ward and Block 22 in Linden. This year government plans to distribute 7,000 house lots, GINA added.