The Ministry of Housing and Water will be exploring some new measures aimed aiding 42 families of Cameron Dam, West Bank Demerara, in their relocation process.
According to a Ministry of Housing and Water press release yesterday, the 42 families were re-engaged during an outreach on Monday, led by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and Community Development Director, Gladwin Charles. The agency’s Community Development Department holds direct responsibility for the relocation and regularisation of informal settlers.
During the meeting, Croal explained to the families that they will be able to benefit from the government’s Steel and Cement Housing Subsidy programme, as well as the Home Construction Assistance Facility. Under the first programme, families can receive cement and steel to advance the foundation of their new home, while under the second initiative, for those interested in building their homes this can be facilitated through a loan from a commercial bank and construction will be supervised by the Ministry. Additionally, the Ministry will be offering support to families who are interested in having their existing structures relocated to their new house lots.
The 42 families have been allocated residential lots at the Lust-en-Rust housing scheme and have commenced payment for those lots. In total, 46 families have been occupying Cameron Dam, which is a reserve between Canal Number One and Two.
Also, during the outreach, representatives from the New Building Society facilitated interviews for persons interested in securing a loan.
The Ministry first engaged Cameron Dam residents back in September 2022, where they were made aware of plans to have them relocated. Forty-two of those families readily took up the Ministry’s offer for legitimate residential lots, two are in the process of finalizing their allocation, and the other two families were found to have been previously allocated.
