Junior Communities Minister Valerie Patterson last evening announced that 50 homeowners will be given cash grants to upgrade their homes in celebration of the country’s golden jubilee independence anniversary.
As part of an impassioned promise to bring lasting solutions to the housing sector, Patterson, who has held her portfolio for little over a month, told the National Assembly that 50 homeowners in government housing schemes will be given $300,000 each to effect upgrades to their homes.
Patterson said the proposed spending will result in direct investment in the economy, while noting that there will also be employment opportunities for 1,500 skilled and semi-skilled persons.
“We will be employing engineers, architects, and surveyors and so on,” she declared.
When Stabroek News asked Patterson to explain the process which would be used to identify the homeowners that would benefit, she could not definitively do so and said only that the homeowners will be selected from the ten administrative regions, with the numbers from each region being decided based on the size of the region.
In her presentation on the proposed 2016 national budget yesterday, the minister stressed the government’s intention to not just hand out house lots but to provide “service lots,” while working in collaboration with private developers to create various housing options for the population.
She promised to provide accessible, affordable wholesome and dignified living at all state-sponsored housing schemes. These schemes, she said, will be provided with recreational and basic infrastructure facilities and services, such as roads, solid waste disposal and clean water.
“This government is not about handing out house lots, some of which can’t be accessed. We are not handing out house lots but service lots so that when we give the people they can begin to build because there is suitable infrastructure there, such as proper access roads and proper electrical facilities,” Patterson said.
‘Housing solutions’
Bemoaning the condition of the “turn-key homes” distributed under the previous administration, the minister said her ministry will not only be going after contractors whose shoddy works left these homes riddled with defects but it will also be collaborating with private developers to construct new and better turn-key homes as well as duplexes and condominiums.
To this end, there is to be a housing exhibition, dubbed “Housing Solutions 2016 and Beyond,” in May, where developers will showcase their various designs to the public.
According to the minister, this collaboration will allow government to withdraw from housing construction so that it can instead provide oversight to ensure quality.
Greater involvement with local government authorities to expand the scope of private- public partnerships was also touted as well as the use of Information Communication Technology to allow persons to remotely access the status of their housing applications.
“We are looking to restore confidence in the housing sector,” the minister declared. “Those who dream of owning their own home will see it become a reality. We will fix the housing problems in Guyana and we will fix them with lasting solutions. This is a government of order and we will put order in place,” she added.
