Junior Communities Minister Keith Scott, who has responsibility for housing, plans to move housing development in the country from the sale of house lots to the sale of turn-key homes in communities that are outfitted with basic services, such as schools and police stations.
“What we are doing is developing the concept that people must have a house… we intend to have houses together with community centres, school, churches, pharmacies and in some cases even fire stations so that people would not have the need to have to go down to a different area to look for a job or to shop or go to school,” Scott told Stabroek News in an interview.
“We will have to phase out the house lot project,” he said, while adding that it is too expensive for people to have a house lot then try to build a house. He said that many people have house lots but are unable to build. Tens of thousands of house lots were handed out by PPP/C governments at varying costs between 1993 and 2015, “Our concept of new communities will come into play here,” Scott said, while adding that there are several schemes in existence, including one on the way at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara, where 1,000 turn-key houses are being built. The houses have two bedrooms and will cost at least $4M each. This is one of the projects initiated by the former PPP/C government.
Scott added that he will be reviewing this project to ensure that everything is “above board.” He envisioned that the project will be completed by year end and the homes will be ready for distribution but added that there needs to be cooperation from the bank to ensure that this venture is successful.
Scott said there are developers also who are constructing “high level” homes in the same area and this too will be looked at in addition to contracts that would have been awarded to persons.
According to Scott, the ministry also intends to ensure that when there are construction projects in communities, labour comes from within the area. He said that the experts, such as the engineers, can be sourced from outside, but the carpenters and the artisans will be taken from the communities.
‘Zero tolerance for corruption’
Meanwhile, Scott, who moved into his new office recently, said currently several facets of the ministry’s operation are being reviewed and investigated. He noted that since his arrival, the ministry has already began to undergo changes to ensure there are “competent staffers.”
“We intend to make sure that this ministry becomes the best of all ministries,” he stressed.
Towards this end, Scott has warned that action will be taken against any ministry employee who is found to have been involved in corrupt practices during the execution of their duties, while noting that several of the projects started under the previous PPP/C administration will be investigated.
Scott said it is the policy of the new government to ensure that “there is zero tolerance for corruption… I too will not tolerate it for one second. If we find in the course of our review any skullduggery, we shall take effective and immediate action and those persons guilty shall be dealt with condignly.”
Under the previous government, there were many allegations of corruption in the sale of house lots. Within the last few years there has been a housing boom, with several schemes being opened up along the East Bank Demerara corridor and on the West Demerara.
