These arrangements include Regional Housing Committees to facilitate the smooth and expeditious operation of land development and the land allocation process for housing.

The Committees are established in most of the Administrative Regions of Guyana to ensure that there is a common approach to the development and allocation of lands for residential purposes.

The Committees have specific guidelines that allow them to carry out their mandate.

Information provided by the Ministry of Housing and Water stated that the members of the Regional Housing Committees are: a duly elected Councillor of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) who must be the Chairman of the Housing Committee; two Councillors from the RDC duly nominated by the Council; the Regional Housing Officer who is employed by CH&PA and two members of the Town Council or Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) within which the portion of land is situated.

The Regional Chairman would oversee the functioning of the Regional Housing Committee and must report to the Minister of Housing on a monthly basis on the activities of the Committee. The Regional Housing Officer serves as Secretary to the Committee.

Persons interested in applying for a house lot should complete the specified application forms, which can be obtained from CH&PA. The information provided by the applicants must be verified as far as possible.

The Regional Housing Officers in collaboration with the CH&PA, the Local Authority and the Lands and Surveys Department have to verify that the land applied for is available and suitable for residential use and ensure that the land is not illegally occupied by squatters.

The Secretary of the Housing Committee or the Regional Executive Officer (REO) is responsible for accepting the application forms and making appropriate arrangements to store them. However, the Regional Housing Committee is responsible for scheduling interviews for the applicants with the requisite information duly recorded on the recommended Interview Conclusion Forms obtained from the CH&PA.

Applicants would be short-listed based on the amount of points scored in descending order of sequence by the Committee. Applicants with the highest scores are the ones with greater need. The list of persons recommended for allocation with information collected is usually forwarded to the CH&PA, where it is entered into the database and given confirmation of allocation.

On confirmation, the CH&PA will then issue instructions to the Regional Housing Officer for the allocation process to proceed. Allocation letters are then issued and agreements are signed for sale. The Regions are then authorised to accept payments for the lots, which are forwarded to CH&PA.

The recommended list of persons can only be forwarded to CH&PA for approval of allocation after the cadastral survey has been completed in order to facilitate the allocation of lot numbers and to maintain the integrity of the information in the database.

All allocation letters must be signed by the Regional Housing Officer working in the specific Regions and he/she will be acting on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of CH&PA, Ministry of Housing and Water.

It was noted that all developmental works for the housing areas should be part of the Region’s work programme and must have the concurrence of the CH&PA.

Regional Housing Committees are responsible for informing prospective applicants that any false information tendered by them would render their allocation null and void. Allottees are expected to attest to non-ownership of land or property by way of a sworn affidavit.

It is the duty of the Regional Housing Committee to investigate and verify the veracity of the information supplied by the applicant in respect of non-ownership of property.

The Housing Committees are not allowed to engage in discussions or decision-making, which are of a policy nature. The Committees cannot enter negotiations with private developers with respect to housing projects in the respective Region without approval from the CH&PA.