The deadline for the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA) Jubilee 50/50 payment plan has been extended to June 2.
This is according to a statement issued yesterday by the office of the Minister responsible for Housing Valerie Adams-Patterson.
In the statement, it was explained that the extension is applicable to those persons who at the end of April would have completed paying the first half of the cost of the land that was allocated to them as they would have been the ones who qualified for the 50% discount on the second half.
During a press conference back in March, the junior minister had announced the CH&PA’s 50/50 special payment option to recipients of government house lots valued $3 million and less, in residential areas. According to Patterson, the initiative was undertaken to coincide with Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary.
However, the initiative subsequently came under scrutiny by the Board of the CH&PA, which reportedly foresaw a projected total loss of over $2 billion as a result of the anniversary discount.
“It will cost us over $2 billion and we are not sure the beneficiaries of the offer will really benefit,” an official of the agency, who asked not to be named, said.
Other sources said that the CH&PA Board and some government officials believed the discount was a loss of needed revenue to develop the housing sector. “There are streets to be built, drainage to be looked at so forth,” one source said.
