CH&PA’s house lot distribution in Lethem sees Hundreds benefiting

350 residents of Lethem, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, (Region Nine), benefitted from house
lot allocations at the Housing and Water Ministry’s seventh ‘Dream Realise’ housing drive
exercise on Monday.
23-year-old nurse, Cheyenne Faria, who is attached to the Lethem Regional Hospital, was one of
the first to receive her house lot at the distribution exercise, held at the Amerindian Hostel. Faria,
who originally hails from Sand Creek village, South Rupununi, expressed thanks and gratitude to
have been given the opportunity to own her own home in the Lethem township, where she now
serves.   “I was not expecting to get through so quickly…Hopefully I can start build my house as
soon as the infrastructure is completed in the area,” she was reported as saying.

Eon Jacobus, another young professional employed at the Regional Administration office was
elated to finally own his own house lot.  “I waited several years for this and it’s just exhilarating,
it’s like a dream come through…This is a start, a foundation and as soon as possible I want to
start building my home,” Jacobus said. The allocation exercise, the first of its kind in a hinterland
region, was led by Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal and he was accompanied by Junior
Minister, Susan Rodrigues. Croal said that another 150 house lots slated for the township, will be
distributed subsequently.
Minister Croal speaking to those in attendance noted that the government is not only distributing
house lots, but is investing billions of dollars in community infrastructural development in new
and existing housing schemes. He pointed out that in Lethem, $1.5B will be spent on
infrastructural development in the CHPA housing scheme. “This will see approximately 700
households receiving water, electricity and the construction of roads, community playgrounds
and other facilities and a school. Contracts for these works will soon be signed as we have
already put out the call for tenders,” Croal assured. He said that an estimated $94M will also be
spent on the construction of asphaltic roads and concrete drains in Tabatinga. That area and
Culvert City Scheme, he said will also benefit from the installation of 48 street lights. He went in
to point out that under the Hinterland Housing Programme, residents will benefit from full house
and home improvement subsidies in two villages in each of the five sub- districts in Region
Nine. “Friends, we have not slowed down since we started. Like other regions too, Region Nine
residents face the challenge of affordable housing. There is a backlog that we are working
assiduously to reduce,” Minister Croal explained.
The junior minister said the administration, in keeping with its policy of inclusivity, is pleased to
have hosted its flagship housing programme in the Rupununi region. “The ministry has been
working to reduce that backlog and we want to ensure that we don’t just focus on Region
Four…we know that His Excellency, President Ali has committed to 50,000 house lots and we
know without a doubt we will be able to reach that target,” she said. Junior minister Rodrigues
stressed that the ministry is currently constructing its first regional housing office in Lethem. She
noted that the building is about 85 percent complete and will also house the GWI office to
improve service delivery within the region.

Rodrigues declared that the government has so far distributed some 9,000 house lots to
Guyanese. This brings the administration closer to delivering on its promise to distribute 10,000
house lots annually to Guyanese during its first term in office.
Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock, Regional Executive Officer (REO), Carl Singh, Mayor of
Lethem, John Macedo, and Permanent Secretary, Housing and Water Ministry, Andre Ally, were
also in attendance.