A $3.4 million commitment from the Minister of Finance to fund the completion of a pavilion in West Watooka, Linden, was yesterday welcomed by residents, who up until then had funded its construction through self-help.
A Department of Public Information (DPI) release related that Minister Winston Jordan, during Government’s seventh regional outreach, which targeted residents of Linden, made the commitment following appeals from Lindeners at the forum.
Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, also stepped up to the plate and promised to establish an ICT hub in the community, DPI reported.
The release indicated that the West Watooka community meeting was part of over a dozen meetings held in the town following an all-day outreach at the Wismar Market Square. The outreach was attended by representatives of government ministries and agencies, including the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and the Guyana Revenue Authority. Those events were preceded by a Cabinet meeting, Chaired by President David Granger.
At yesterday’s outreach, DPI reported that over 300 persons showed up to apply for house lots, while others were able to have their land titling issues addressed on spot.
“I applied for my title years ago, I paid $92,000 to the Housing Agency to acquire my title and six months went by without any title. Today, I just had to take a few steps to resolve my matter. I am an old woman with arthritis, and I am happy the Government can do this for us senior citizens,” an attendee told DPI.
DPI said that according to an official from the Community Development and Enforcement Department of the CH&PA, many persons were unaware of the correct procedures to be followed to acquire their house lots. As such, officials took the opportunity to inform citizens of their rights and what is required for them to apply for land, house lots and land titles.
“What we observed is that several persons are not fully aware of the documents needed, the time frame they would have to wait to get their house lots and titles. So, it’s our priority to ensure that persons leave this outreach with accurate information,” the official stated.
Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arrindell, commented that the government’s initiative will allow Linden’s housing issues to be addressed and stated that she was happy that youths were in attendance to take hold of the opportunities available for housing.
Meanwhile, during interviews in the lead up to the Cabinet meeting, ministers expressed how enthused they were to be engaging with the people later on in the day.
“Residents have the opportunities to meet their ministers, not for us to tell them what we are doing, but for them to tell us how we could improve what we are doing,” Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan stated. DPI stated that Minister Simona Broomes, who was recently reassigned to the Ministry of the Presidency, with responsibility for Youth Affairs, said she was looking forward to meeting and speaking with the young people of the region.
“We have the youth corps in Linden which His Excellency just launched, that offers a wide range of training options. I am to visit that facility… We are focusing and targeting youths between the ages of 14 to 25 years old for training” she said.
DPI further stated that as part of government’s regional outreaches, meetings are also being planned with the various youth groups in Linden and other parts of the country, as government seeks to strengthen its policies to ensure “Education, Equality and Employment” for the nation’s youth.
