Contractors and hardware store proprietors along with the commercial banking sector have been singled out by Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali as the private sector entities that provide significant material and technical support for the country’s housing drive.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the International Building Expo last Friday, Ali said that they have an alliance with the Ministry of Housing and the Government of Guyana “to ensure that the well-meaning policies of the government and [its] strong housing policies… are implemented in an effective manner, and… that the right resources are available to bring meat to this product of housing.”
Asserting that there was once a time when Guyana was unable to produce sufficient contractors “to do our own work at home”, Ali told public and private sector officials and other visitors to the opening of the event that the country could now celebrate “the investments that many Guyanese have made” in the sector. He said while local contractors had come in for a lot of criticism, more time should be spent recognising “the great investments” they have made.
Ali also lauded the banking and financial sectors for what he called, “their strong leadership” in ensuring that the country’s financial system remained sound and for ensuring that “we manage our liquidity well so that we can implement policies that would stimulate lending for home ownership.”
The housing minister also paid tribute to the “hundreds of hardware store owners”, who seek to ensure they provide the services necessary to keep the housing industry moving.
Meanwhile, the building and construction sector attracted particular commendation in Ali’s presentation for what he said was its “important role” in transforming the country’s economy. “None of us can fathom the trickle-down effect of development in the construction sector,” Ali said. He disclosed that in the construction sector the Ministry of Housing and Water alone employs more than 600 young Guyanese and that more than 40 Guyanese who returned from Barbados and are currently working in the sector. In his address, the housing minister also singled out several key government-backed infrastructural projects, including some which have attracted public and political controversy. These, he said, must be stepped up if the country is to “create the enabling environment that would determine the progress, growth and expansion of our economy.” He cited the building of the Marriott Hotel, the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the expansion of the four lane roads, and the alternative link between the East Bank and East Coast Demerara as projects which he said must be accelerated.
In the cases of the Marriott Hotel and the CJIA expansion project, government has faced public and political criticism over what is felt to be imprudent spending. More than that, the political opposition has charged that multi-million-dollar spending can be risky in an environment which is littered with corruption.
The government has continually insisted that the opposition’s charges of corruption are politically motivated and in his address last Friday Ali said that the economic development of the country not be compromised by “the political environment.”
