Fifteen thousand more house lots will be handed out before June this year, according to Minister of Water and Housing Collin Croal.
He and APNU+AFC MP Annette Ferguson clashed on Wednesday in Parliament over the handling of the portfolio of the Ministry of Housing and Water.
Describing the current state of the housing sector as “failed” and characterising comments made by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr Ashni Singh as “inaccurate and unfulfilled aspirations”. Ferguson stated that the government only purported to have delivered some 50,000 house lots over the past four years.
“Furthermore, I assert that while the PPP/C previously resorted to allocating bush lots, or swamps for housing schemes without a thorough and cohesive strategy, the coalition government has diligently, Mr. Speaker, prioritised the development of cohesive and sustainable communities. This shift, Mr. Speaker, represents a commitment to not only meet the housing needs of our citizens, but to also elevate the quality of life within our neighbourhoods”, she said.
“They don’t have no strategy, no plan, no coherent plan for the housing sector. So Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I know that my time, I have so much to say on this housing thing, but you know what? I will speak a bit off record. Mr. Speaker, we were told in this House in, 2022, the Honourable Collin Croal came to this House and he said to this House in his budget speech of 2022 that the government, his ministry, the government started to look at the informal settlements. Those are persons who are squatting. And that, Mr. Speaker, a report was being done, the study was being done, and it will be presented to the National Assembly. Mr. Speaker, that was reported to this house on January 26th, 2022, We are now January 29th, 2025, Mr. Speaker. Three years after, we are yet to see that report coming to this National Assembly where we all can have our input and devise a strategy how we can deal with informal settlements. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the People’s Progressive Party government currently struggles with significant shortcomings in governance, particularly in their reliance on comprehensive data analysis to inform decision-making”, she stated.
Holding up photos with brown buckets of water, Ferguson blasted the government over the quality of water coming through the pipes.
Taking his counterpart to task, housing, Croal began his presentation with a song “Annette run with the mace”, a reference to the uproar in Parliament over the Natural Resource Fund bill, before stating that several housing schemes were developed.
Looking at 2025, he stated that a minimum of 25,000 hotshots will be allocated of which 15,000 will be accomplished before June of this year, while 20 new housing areas will also be established by June of this year.
He stated that a minimum of 1,000 houses will be constructed. This was followed by a heckle by culture and sports minister Charles Ramson “y’all gon lose this election bad, bad”.
The 20 new housing schemes are slated to be established in regions, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 and will be equipped with “proper roads, drainage, electricity and recreational spaces.
The low income, middle income and young professional housing programmes will also be expanded. Additionally, rain water harvesting systems in remote areas will also be expanded providing “real benefits to the citizens of Guyana”, Croal said.