Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues
Several strategies are taken into consideration by the Central Housing and Planning Authority and Ministry of Housing and Water when deciding on the issuance of house lots to applicants.
On Friday Minister within the Housing Ministry Susan Rodrigues told a gathering that part of the strategy is to ensure that families are not displaced and their lives and livelihoods are not significantly interrupted.
“It is a very measured approach, there is a method to the allocation and we are also considerate of the fact that when you make applications for a house lot, we take into consideration where you currently reside” Minister Rodrigues stated.
She further explained that government and moreover the ministry and agency is aware of how people bond after living around each other for prolonged periods and then have to be forced to start over when moving into another community.
“The last thing we want to do is to displace people and to make it difficult for you to transition from one community to the other and people may say.. well I have an outstanding application dating back five years and I have not been called today (last Friday), then more than likely you live on the East Coast. That is just one example and therefore when we go back to the East Coast and you are a middle income earner for example, you will be called” Min. Susan Rodrigues explained.
On Friday the Ministry of Housing and Water through the Central Housing and Planning Authority distributed one thousand middle income house-lots as it moves aggressively in fulfilling a promise to have ten thousand house-lots delivered to Guyanese within one year and fifty thousand within five years.
Still on the issue of keeping families closer and together, the minister further stated….
“We recognised that where you are currently residing you have ties, you have roots, you have children who may be in school in that community, you have elderly parents who you may want to stay close to and so you dont want to move far away and so that is the method and the approach that we have when it comes to distribution…it is a very considerate approach and we wan to make it as easy as possible for you to transition from where you are currently residing to your new home that you will subsequently build”
In her plea for persons to occupy lands allocated to them, the minister pointed out that it is never an easy task securing land for allocation as there are several agencies which are competing for lands in order to meet their own agency’s mandate and as such when lands are given, persons should not allow them to be unoccupied.