Fire victim among four ECD families grateful to become homeowners

The Ministry of Housing and Water continues to ensure that Guyanese from all sections of society have access to affordable and sustainable housing.
In line with this objective, the living conditions have been elevated for four low-income families along the East Coast corridor who received keys to their brand-new core homes on Thursday.
These homes, valued $5 million each, which were built under the Core Home Support initiative are executed under the ministry’s Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AH&UAP).
The beneficiaries were overjoyed when they were provided with the the keys to their homes from Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal.
Beneficiary, Shabina Haniff of Hope, who is now a proud homeowner, expressed her satisfaction with having a house for her family. She added that she would have been comfortable in a one-bedroom home.
Despite encountering many challenges before the construction of her house, Haniff expressed, “I am thankful for everyone’s help throughout this whole process. Because, trust me, if I had to build with my kids while maintaining them…It wouldn’t have been easy.”
First-time homeowner and fire victim, 83-year-old, Jennifer Klass of Sparendaam who is extremely happy to receive her new home, noted that her previous home was destroyed during a fire.
“…Everything was burned out during the fire. We had nothing left with us. I am thankful to be provided with a home… I am very happy now. I was waiting for this for a very long time…” Klass told the media.
Another beneficiary of Sparendaam, Egland Campbell who was emotional echoed similar sentiments stated, “they promised me that I will get through and I got through.
Beneficiary, Nigel Ralph of Goedverwagting was ecstatic to have a home of his own at last for his family.
“Today is a very special day…Thank you [Minister Croal] for this place and may it be good for me and my family,” Ralph expressed.
Meanwhile, Minister Croal highlighted that approximately 10 per cent of the budget has been expended for the core home initiative.
The low-income individuals from particular areas in Regions Three and Four are the focus of the $5.8 billion AH&UAP.
All that is needed of the beneficiaries is a $100,000 down payment on their homes.
“We have expended over $418 million. On this entire programme itself, we have expended $587 million…Satisfying, again, a niche or a particular target in terms of subsidies and core homes,” the housing and water minister stressed.
On Tuesday, four families along the East Coast corridor received the keys to their homes.
To date, 96 homes out of 323 have been handed over under this programme.
A total of 15 houses are under construction on the East Coast corridor.
Speaking directly about the programme’s criteria, the minister added, “Our programme is equitably dealt with across the board. The beneficiaries come from the bracket of where we cater for all segments of our population…We are particularly pleased that the programme is moving faster…”
Applications have now closed for the core home support programme, which commenced in December 2017 and will end on June 11, 2024.