Cause for cheers
Editorial
WHATEVER flows from the momentous ruling in the elections petition case, those thousands of Guyanese now proud owners of house lots and houses since December 1997 would not want their assets to be at issue or declared illegal or illegitimate. The achievements of the government in the period under review in the court case would stand.
There has been a virtual revolution in housing in recent years and the remarkable achievements cannot be taken away or easily ignored.
Just as it would be useless to try to wipe away the impressive strides in overhauling the roads, sea defence, pure water supply and essential infrastructure in other sectors.
These are easy to refer to because they can be easily seen and identified.
Housing and Water Minister, Mr Shaik Baksh, at the commissioning of yet another milestone in the housing sector Wednesday afternoon, outlined recent developments:
** The distribution of about 50,000 house lots for the year 2000 alone.
** Setting up of 91 housing schemes in all the regions of the country.
** Providing infrastructure for the schemes.
** High subsidisation of the house lots making them affordable to all income brackets.
** The assurance that all persons who applied and were interviewed for house lots between February to October 2000 have been given house lots.
** For those who have not yet received letters, those will be received by the end of January.
** Regularisation of 52 squatter settlements throughout Guyana and provision of the necessary infrastructure
** The continuing distribution of titles to lands with more than 500 being issued in the year 2000.
** Plans for issuing another 10,000 titles this year.
** The establishment of more than 100 community development groups between 1992 and 2000 in housing schemes and squatter settlements.
** Plans being finalised for the establishment of a home ownership programme unit which will train leaders to ensure the accelerated development of their communities and due care of facilities.
** $300 Million already in place to be spent on infrastructural development in housing schemes over the next three years.
The bottom line of all this, the minister said, is: "We want to meet the basic needs of the people, and to give them adequate and affordable shelter."
He was speaking at the commissioning of the first ever road and water distribution system in Blocks I and II of the new Diamond/Grove housing schemes on the East Bank Demerara.
Hundreds of residents gathered at the ceremony on the main north to south roadway, cheered loudly as the minister outlined the vast developments taking place within the housing sector in Guyana, and plans to benefit the families that have begun taking up, and will continue to take up the 6,000 house lots allocated to persons in that scheme alone.
Other residents in other new housing schemes have been cheering more and more recently, because they now have title to land and a place they can call their own.
Many others not yet there are getting there and that's no easy achievement -- for not so long ago, it was hard for thousands to even imagine getting their own house lot.
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