Yesterday afternoon, five low-income families received a new Core Home for Christmas.
The keys to the homes, as well as Electrical Certificate and Completion Certificate, were handed over by the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, alongside Deputy Director of Community Development, Donell Bess-Bascom and staff, a release from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) said.
The new homeowners are Tandasey O’Neil, Lot 4451 Lust-en-Rust; Candase Wrights, Lot 4433 Lust-En-Rust; Burton Kelly, Lot 4083 Lust-en-Rust; and Antonio Alexis, Lot 4062 Lust-En-Rust in Region Three; and Hilbert Pilgrim of Lot 1641 Section ‘B’ Block ‘X’ Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara in Region Four.
The homes, built under the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP), are funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and executed through the Ministry of Housing and Water-Central Housing and Planning Authority. They are priced at nearly $5 million each. The homes offer two bedrooms, a kitchen, and washroom facilities.
Within the AHUAP framework, Croal said that more than 75 homes have already been handed over. In Region Three alone, nearly $1.2 billion was expended toward home building, essential infrastructure like roads, drainage networks, and street lights, and the disbursement of Home Improvement Subsidies, the CHPA release said.
Plans were also unveiled for rehabilitating a community ground and constructing a multipurpose facility in the region, the release said. Over $60 million has been utilized so far on the East Bank of Demerara for Core Home construction and the distribution of Home Improve-ment Subsidies.
One of Friday’s beneficiaries, Burton Kelly, expressed his gratitude, stating that the new home is a significant upgrade from the small wooden makeshift dwelling he once occupied.
“Today is a new phase in my life. I am so thankful,” Kelly said as he expressed his appreciation to the Government and IDB.
Candase Wrights, a mother of five, shared her joy at being able to provide a better home for her family. Coming from humble beginnings, she spoke of the relief from the financial burden of rent.
“This would be a big step that you don’t have to worry about this part anymore, about rent paying and you gon’ have current so that the children could study more effectively at night,” she said, according to the release.
Another beneficiary, Tandasey O’Neil, described the home as a true Christmas miracle.
“It’s a Christmas present, it came just in time for Christmas and it’s really a blessing…I have three biological children and it will be very nice for us to have our own home and one of the best things about it is that it’s debt-free,” said O’Neil.
The release said that the AHUAP boundary encompasses, the La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Development in Region Three, Georgetown to Grove on the East Bank of Demerara, Region Four; from Georgetown to La Bonne Intention and nineteen other select communities up to Victoria on the East Coast of Demerara, Region Four.
