Housing Ministry hits back at Kaieteur News

THE HOUSING MINISTRY HAS LASHED OUT at a recent Kaieteur News article on a
planned government 5,000 units housing project blasting the news report as sloppy journalism
riddled with inexactitudes.
“To say the least, this headline reflects poor journalistic skills and at most is grossly inaccurate.
The information shared in the article is grossly distorted and does not fully reflect the
information presented by the Minister of Housing and Water, the Hon. Collin Croal, in response
to questions, posed to him by Opposition Parliamentarian, Annette Ferguson,” a statement from
the Ministry of Housing and Water said.
Among its complaints, the government ministry too umbrage to a KN headline earlier this week
which stated ‘Housing Ministry to now construct and sell houses for profit’. The offending
piece of slapdash journalism is KN’s “most recent attack on another project which seeks to
benefit and improve the lives of Guyanese,” the Ministry’s strongly-worded press release
complained.
It said legislator’s Ferguson’s two-part question sought clarity on the $13. 9 B contract for the
construction of housing units in Regions’ 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara); 4
(Demerara/Mahaica); 5 (Mahaica/Berbice), and 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) and the breakdown
of the category of persons to benefit and the expected and final cost per housing unit.
“The Minister clearly outlined that persons within the Low, Moderate, Middle, and High
brackets will benefit from this initiative. A breakdown of costing was also provided, and as has
been the policy for years under similar housing projects, the cost for the land is included in the
final cost. Identifying the specific costs, the Ministry stated that the units for low-income units
carry a final cost of – $5.5 M of which $300,000.00 will go towards the cost for the land, ($5.2 M
per unit). The Moderate-Income units will be sold at – $7.5 M of which $300,000.00 for
land ($7.2 M per unit cost),” the release explained.

“The cost for high and middle-income units stands at $13.9 M and $19.9 M respectively with the
land carrying a cost of $1.5 M each.  As has been the policy on similar housing projects for the
construction of housing, each beneficiary is only required to pay the Ministry of Housing Central
Housing and Planning Authority, the cost of the land and the remaining cost is paid to the
contractor, through a mortgage scheme with any financial institution of the beneficiary’s choice,”
the release stated.
“For Kaieteur News to even suggest that the agency is making a profit on these units is
preposterous and disingenuous, as the cost for the lands these units are built on are heavily
subsidised by the government,” it said.
It continued: “If the newspaper is running out of options for sensational clickbait headlines, in
hope of generating a profit, they should spend time researching facts and useful information,
which will be beneficial to their readers and not mislead them.  All of the government’s
programs, including its ambitious housing drive are crafted for the people of this country and are
not profit-driven in any way. The contracts for the construction of the 5,000 housing units across
Regions, 3,4, 5, and 6 were awarded, using the competitive bidding process by public tender”.
“The Ministry will not be daunted or distracted from its numerous development projects,
all of which stand to benefit Guyanese from all walks of life, and will continue to execute its
programs and policies with precision, transparency and equality,” the statement assured.