Housing ministry states criteria for house lot allocation
Stabroek News
February 16, 2003
The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has in place special administrative arrangements, including Regional Housing Committees, to facilitate 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 Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday.
These committees, GINA stated, have specific guidelines that allow them to fulfil their mandate.
According to GINA, the Ministry of Housing and Water has said 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 the CH&PA and two members of the town council or Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) within the jurisdiction where the portion of land is situated.
The Regional Chairman has to oversee the functioning of the Regional Housing Committee and give the Minister of Housing a monthly report on its activities, GINA reported. The Regional Housing Officer serves as Secretary to this Committee.
With those administrative arrangements in place, persons applying for a house lot have to complete the specified application forms, which can be obtained from the CH&PA. The information provided by the applicants must be verified as far as possible, GINA said.
In the case of Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), all housing issues are dealt with by the Ministry of Housing.
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 it is not illegally occupied by squatters.
GINA noted also that 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 and the requisite information is recorded on the recommended Interview Conclusion Forms obtained from the CH&PA.
Applicants are short-listed based on the amount of points scored in descending order of sequence by the committee, and those who have the highest scores are determined to be the ones with greater need, GINA stated.
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, GINA added.
On confirmation, the CH&PA will 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, and the monies are forwarded to CH&PA.
The recommended list of persons can only be sent 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, GINA reported.
All allocation letters must be signed by the Regional Housing Officer working in the specific Region and that officer will be acting on behalf of the CEO of CH&PA, Ministry of Housing and Water.
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 regarding non-ownership of property.
The Housing Committees are not allowed to engage in discussions or decision-making which are of a policy nature. GINA pointed out further that the committees cannot enter into negotiations with private developers about housing projects in the respective regions without approval from the CH&PA.
