The US$2 million home at Onverwagt for street dwellers is expected to be completed before the end of the year but will await the presence of a Venezuelan envoy for its commissioning, since the project is a collaborative one between the two countries.
This is according to Human Services Minister Jennifer Webster who yesterday told Stabroek News that the construction process is approaching completion and that some of the furnishings that were in storage were taken out and are currently there.
“There is still ongoing works mostly to the exterior… The car park, driveway… It is hoped that it will be finished by the end of the year,” she said.
Webster stated that the building will accommodate 00 males and 60 females and they will be selected based on their ability to be rehabilitated. “They need to be somewhat self-sufficient and… willing to undergo training as it will be offered by the facility… The government is investing a lot in equipping them with life skills and technical skills so that they can be fully reintegrated in society,” the minister posited.
She added too that persons who are housed at the facility will not be given a timeline to leave as many of them won’t be able to afford housing.
Among the skills to be taught to the males are carpentry, masonry, agriculture and gardening, while the women will be trained in sewing and other skills that they can earn an income with.
Venezuela had offered Guyana US$2 million for the construction of a shelter for the homeless in 2007. The offer had come during the visit of Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Rodolfo Sanz and was said to be in the framework of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.
