Minister Croal –Over 750 informal settlers regularised, 59 relocated in 2021

An estimated 750 informal settlers residing in Regions Four and Five were regularised last yea,r
while 59 persons squatting on government reserves were relocated by the Central Housing and
Planning Authority (CH&PA)
Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, revealed this during a recent media interview. “This
is an ongoing exercise. There are a number of variables that we have to look at. First of all, we
have to decide on what is going to be the usage of the area and after that we make the
determination on whether to relocate or regularise,” Croal said
Minister Croal stressed that his government has embarked on a national housing plan that caters
for the housing needs of all Guyanese. As such, he said that there is absolutely no need for
persons to engage in illegal land occupation. “There is no benefit from that because you will not
be able to benefit from basic utilities in a formal way and no infrastructure works will be done
and there is also the issue of hygiene,” Croal said.
The housing and water minister noted that last year, his ministry launched the Guyana Strategy
for Informal Settlements Upgrading and Prevention, a programme which seeks to address and
ultimately, eliminate squatting across the country. He revealed that the programme is being
executed in partnership with the UN-Habitat, the European Union (EU) and the African,
Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).
The Minister pointed out that the programme will result in squatting being dealt with in a more
structured way. He noted that this will be done taking into consideration the increased number of
squatter settlements across the country given the influx of migrants into the country.
Revealing statistics compiled by the CH&PA last year, Minister Croal said that 15 per cent of the
Guyanese population, the equivalent of just over 110,000 people, are living in informal
settlement communities. He added that another 27,500 households are known to be residing on
state lands in 231 informal settlement communities.