The Housing Ministry on Monday presented allocation letters and lot numbers to 89 families of Plantation Balthyock, after a $46M investment to regularise what was once a squatting area at Blairmont Number One Settlement.
Minister Irfaan Ali thanked residents for their cooperation during the regularisation process, which entailed the completion of an occupational survey.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report, some residents received allocation letters and others chose their house lots through a lottery system.
Ali noted that most persons, who had been living in the community for about 20 years, now had an opportunity to have land titles and a better standard of life. He added that t within eight weeks their titles will be made available to them.
GINA said the $46M investment entailed $15M for the water transmission, $15M for the construction of an access bridge and $10M for infrastructure works to be executed by the Guyana Power and Light in order to provide electricity to the area. All works are expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter in 2012.
“We wanted to see as far as possible, that those 20 years of memories which you have in this area do not go down…after this allocation we will have the land transferred to the land registry area so we can proceed with the land titling process,” the minister was quoted as saying. The section of land that residents will occupy was transferred from the Guyana Sugar Corporation to the Central Housing and Planning Authority and will see 89 lots being distributed, which will benefit about 150 persons.
One resident, Radika Premchand, said she was excited to know that she has acquired her allocation letter and would soon receive her land title which would allow her to build her home and elevate her standard of living. Other residents, who had lived in the area for some time, expressed similar sentiments as they were happy to finally be in possession of documentation for the lands they have lived on as it will allow them to access loans from the commercial banks.
