Citing the $13b to be expended on infrastructural works in 21 settlements, the Ministry of Housing and Water on Saturday rebuffed criticisms by former Minister Annette Ferguson and vowed that its “Dream Realised” scheme will deliver 50,000 serviced house lots at the end of its present term in office.
Ferguson in her letter in the August 14th edition of Stabroek News had contended that the former APNU+AFC administration had made significant progress on housing and she also criticised the current PPP/C government’s plans. In its rebuttal on Saturday via the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), the ministry said that Ferguson failed to mention that what the government has achieved in its first year is “more than what her government did in their five years and five stolen months”.
The Ministry said: “The facts and records will show that during the APNU/AFC’s stint in office they merely developed three housing schemes, that is Peter’s Hall, Prospect Track ‘E’ and Providence 125. Every other allocation made under Ms. Ferguson and her colleagues’ watch were done in existing schemes which were designed and developed prior to 2015. According to information produced by the opposition MP, she claimed that her party secured a combined total of 409 acres of land for house lot allocation in Lethem, Kwakwani, Amelia’s Ward and Wisroc. This is far from the truth, in Kwakwani this government found that the land which was only identified, was unfit for housing and has since commenced the process to secure new and suitable lands to fulfill the housing need for persons in that area. Wisroc was never vested to the Ministry and the same can be said for Lethem and Amelia’s Ward as the ownership for these lands were still questionable up until late 2020. While some allocations were done under the previous Government in Amelia’s Ward, these allocations were done from open lands that were in the existing scheme and in some instances, there remains issue with the ownership”.
Noting that in her letter she produced tables purporting to show twenty-one new housing areas, again supposedly developed under her government, the ministry on Saturday said that Guyanese people know that the Recht-Door-Zee and Onderneeming schemes on the West Bank of Demerara were developed under the then Housing Minister, now President Irfaan Ali. The ministry said that Ferguson should be ashamed to speak to allocation in Recht-Door-Zee, since she converted a site which was designated for a burial ground, to house lots and allocated them. The lands allocated at Onder-neeming were also open lands that were already developed since the commencement of the scheme.
The ministry said that Ferguson in her letter also sought to take praise for the developments in the Perseverance Housing Scheme but that she must be reminded that it was the PPP/C administration who established that scheme with the 1000 homes Project. It said that that scheme was conceptualized and successfully delivered by then Minister Ali. In the other areas, including Annandale, Mon Repos, La Bonne Intention, Non Pareil, Ordnance Fortlands, the ministry said that the issue of ownership is now being addressed by this government.
“When the PPP/C government took office, the Ministry of Housing was saddled with a number of land ownership issues since, thousands of Guyanese had letters stating they have been issued lands but years had passed and they were unable to get ownership documents or even locate the lots. In the absence of (an) ownership document, it is almost impossible for an allottee to approach a bank for a mortgage, this is one of the two factors that resulted in low occupancy …in these schemes which Ferguson boasted about developing. All of these schemes lacked the basic infrastructure, in fact they were all large open lands with heavy vegetation but are now being developed under the Ministry’s 2021 budget and work programme. The allocations which Ferguson referred to in her letter were a political gimmick in the lead up to (the) 2020 election as these allocations were done in January and February 2020. In most of these areas, no designs nor surveys were done, they were all virgin lands for which the Ministry had no jurisdiction over”, the ministry contended.
The ministry pointed out that Minister of Housing, Collin Croal went back to the National Assembly for a supplementary budget to fast-track works in these 21 housing schemes which Ferguson boasts about.
“These infrastructure works will be done for house lot allocations in the following areas: Anna Catherina, Cornelia’s Ida, Edinburg, Meten-Meer-Zorg and Stewartville (Region Three); Mon Repos, Vigilance, Bladen Hall, Strathspey, La Bonne Intention, Cummings Lodge, Great Diamond, Little Diamond, Prospect, Providence (Region Four); and Experiment, Williamsburg, Hampshire, No. 79 Village, No. 75 Village and Ordnance/Fortlands (Region Five and Six).
“Further, to this the construction for almost 500 housing units has begun in under one year, a noteworthy accomplishment compared to the coalition’s poor delivery. This includes 40 in Amelia’s Ward, Linden; 100 in Prospect, East Bank Demerara and 140 in Cummings Lodge, Georgetown for low-income earners, as well as, 200 young professional homes in Providence and Prospect, East Bank Demerara. All together this will complement the President’s plan for the construction of 1000 houses. Under this housing programme almost $2 billion is being expended”, the ministry stated.
In her letter, Ferguson had accused the government of failing to meet its own commitment of allocating 10,000 house lots per year. She pointed out that by its own admission, only 6,000 were apportioned.
Ferguson had also said that there are in excess of three hundred housing areas across the regions which require road upgrades. She said that the former APNU+AFC Government had assessed the cost implications to have the works done in these areas and it would have cost the government close to $50 billion dollars.
