The Ministry of Housing and Water last week launched the Fourth International Building and Construction Exposition and outlined plans to unveil Silica City which it says will take residential housing to higher grounds.
A release from the Government Information Agency said that Silica City would be located amid 500 acres of land to be developed for housing along the Linden/Soesdyke highway.
Speaking at the opening at the Princess Hotel, Minister Irfaan Ali said the ministry had considered skipping the event this year but the vibrancy of the private sector beckoned its staging. The private sector had indicated to the ministry in February that it had budgeted for the exposition, he said.
According to the GINA press release, this year’s exposition will be held from July 5-7 at the National Stadium under the theme ‘Consolidating Partnerships for Sustainable Development.’ It will focus on building more local and foreign partnerships with the aim of diversifying the manufacturing base; while at the same time ensuring sustainable development.
“Sustainable development must be futuristic; it cannot be static such as a five or ten-year plan,” Ali said, adding that Silica City will be the first real initiative that will take industry, commerce and residential housing to higher ground.
This decision was taken after considering the rising sea and the fact that all the publicly owned land on the East Coast Demerara for housing development has been utilised, while the East Bank is at its penultimate tier of development. Plans are in train to develop another 8,000 house lots on the East Bank.
“At the speed, at which the Ministry works, we are going to finish 10,000 this year and next year we will be faced with the challenge as to where next, and that is why we are launching this futuristic vision of a sustainable community along the highway. In the initial stage, this will see the development of 500 acres of land,” he said.
The ministry encourages all potential investors, bankers, buyers to register with Silica City. House lot applicants who are willing to accept an allocation in Silica City will have their documents processed immediately, the release said.
“We are at the stage of development, where 10 years ago, we never thought about land reclamation. Today, as we discuss the whole idea of securing our frontier from the sea, one of the main topics on the agenda is reclaiming land.
There is a shift in opportunity and a shift in thinking. For us to have a sustainable future in Guyana, we must have a futuristic outlook that understands the environmental consequences and technological changes,” Ali said. Silica City offers a sustainable and viable solution for the country’s housing needs.
The minister also spoke of the benefits which have accrued from previous building expositions; recalling the experience of a businessman who had approached the ministry with a request to showcase his trade and who, at the time could not afford to pay for a booth. The ministry had granted him a small space and his business has now mushroomed where to date he is one of the biggest suppliers of concrete mouldings.
“It is stories like these that ignite us to ensure that we build many more entrepreneurs…it does not always require massive financial capital…let us commit ourselves to take the opportunities that exist out there,” Ali said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Ronald Webster, said that over the past three years, the contribution of the construction sector averaged about 11 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. He said this sector is ideal to stimulate economic activities; it creates employment and encompasses investments that give value to the economy.
