Residents of Timehri, East Bank Demerara, are set to receive land titles within the next two weeks, securing legal ownership of lands they have been occupying for years, the Department of Public Information (DPI) yesterday reported.
President Irfaan Ali made this announcement during a community engagement at Timehri Base Road on Friday afternoon.
The squatter settlement has about 400 households and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) has advanced the process of regularising the area.
“I am very pleased to tell you that with our aggressive work, within two weeks’ time I will be back right here to hand out titles for persons within the squatter settlement,” the president said.
He, however, highlighted that out of the 400 households in the area only 43 have processed their application for regularisation.
“You need to come forward so we can get this process going,” he told the gathering.
The regularisation exercise will pave the way for critical infrastructure works to be undertaken including roads and drainage.
He mentioned the ongoing efforts to regularise Timehri North and plans to completing that process before the end of the year.
At Hauraruni, Soesdyke, about 800 lots are being legalised.
President Ali also announced plans to tackle the regularisation of all the squatting areas along Timehri and Soesdyke, DPI said.
For those that cannot be regularised, Ali said, “the Ministry of Housing will take your information and you will be part of the development that we (have) ongoing to ensure that you live in good conditions.”
Meanwhile, DPI said that the residents had the opportunity to raise concerns, most of which were related to agriculture, drainage and irrigation, roads, electricity and water, as well as the need for street lights and recreational facilities.
In response, the head of state said officers from the various ministries led by the Permanent Secretaries will return to the community today to do a complete analysis of all the issues raised.
“They will bring it back to me and within one week, they are going to come back right here to outline to you the course of action that we’ll take all right,” he said.
