Essequibo outreach results in 40 persons receiving house lots

40 residents of Charity, Anna Regina and Suddie, Region Two, received on the spot house lots
during an outreach conducted by the Housing and Water Ministry on Friday.
The activity was led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing and Planning
Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves. It was aimed at addressing long standing housing issues
on the Essequibo Coast. Wanita Holmes, a mother of four residing in Charity was one of the first
persons to receive her house lot. She is currently residing on a farmland within the Charity area
with her children. Holmes said that she was happy to receive her house lot which will allow her
to provide a safe, stable and comfortable home for her four children. “I feel so happy because I
was waiting a long time.  I just need a permanent home for my children…immediately I will pay
for the lot and start to build my house as soon as possible,” Holmes said.

Homeownership has also become a reality for Jamal Hartman, a traffic rank attached to the
Charity Police Station. The young rank has been living in Suddie for just over two years and is
renting a house with his wife.He congratulated the Housing Ministry’s smooth land allocation
process as he did not expect such a quick response regarding his house lot which will now allow
him to build a home for his family. “First of all, I would like to give God almighty the thanks. He
has answered my prayers. Today, I feel overwhelmed and I thank the ministry for making this a
success today. I am so happy to have my own land,” Hartman expressed.
A number of other issues were also addressed during the outreach, as CH&PA continues to work
to address a number of land matters hampering housing development on the Essequibo Coast.
Cathleen Bagot, a re-migrant pensioner was especially grateful to have her land issue finally
resolved after five years. Baggot said she returned to Guyana five years ago with the hope of
settling in Essequibo since she has roots there. However, she was given a royal run around to pay
and receive documents for a piece of land that was allotted to her. “It has been quite an
adventure. I returned to this country and was told I can benefit from two categories. I was shown
the piece of land but could not pay. I even write the former president but then with the elections
and COVID the issue was stalled. So, I am happy to finally hear that everything has been taken
care of,” she explained.
Over 700 persons received house lots in Charity and Onderneeming thus far for 2021, as part of
the government’s target to deliver 50,000 house lots to Guyanese- 10,000 annually by the end of
its first term in office. The Ministry also plans to invest $1B in infrastructural development
within several new and existing housing schemes in the region. The ministry added that works to
be done includes the constructions of roads and bridges, instillation of street lights and the
acquisition of lands for house lots allocation.