Free house lot given to Essequibo amputee during housing outreach

Wheelchair-bound amputee of Charity, Essequibo, Ventle Jainarine, is on his way to becoming a homeowner, after he received a house lot free of cost, during an outreach in Anna Regina, Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two) by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) on Friday.

It was noted that the cost for the land was waived following an intervention by Junior Housing and Water Minister, Susan Rodrigues, after learning about the young father’s plight to own his own home. In a media related interview, Jainarine, who resides at Sparta Check Dam, Charity, disclosed that his life took a tragic turn in 2018 after losing one of his legs during a boat accident. He said that he was working as a captain of the boat at the time.

“I got a wife and daughter and we survive on public assistance because I can’t work and we are renting a house. Sometimes when we can’t pay the rent, we get put out…,” Jainarine said. He added, “I feel happy to finally get through with my land. I was surprised when the minister said I will get it for free. This is a big help, so I would like to thank the government.” 

It was revealed that Jainarine was among several residents who had their issues resolved during the outreach being held at the Anna Regina Town Council compound. Rodrigues noted that the activity is a ‘one stop shop’ where persons are able to go through the process of applying for a land, update their information, process their land titles and agreement of sale for a land allocated to them, among other issues.

“We are here for two days, and we are not just receiving matters and taking notes, we have already done that. Today we are going to address those matters and we have all the capable officers here that will deal with all the matters here in Essequibo,” Rodrigues was quoted as saying. The junior minister explained that one of the most common issues is fraudulent transactions where persons were issued bogus receipts for lands for which they paid. She said that government has made a decision to honour those recipients which will see those persons receiving their allocation letters during the two-day event.

She stressed that in order to ensure these issues do not repeat themselves, the ministry has revamped its regional housing office which is now operating under a new management. “We have equipped the offices with competent staff who will be able to deal with a number of the issues that come up…. But what we are doing here is trying to reduce the backlog so the office does not become overwhelmed,” Rodrigues assured.

She noted that the activity is a follow-up to Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s outreach to the region last month. Rodrigues added that last year, over 700 persons received house lots in Charity and Onderneeming. The ministry also plans to invest $1B in infrastructural development within several new and existing housing schemes in the region. Works to be done include the construction of roads and bridges, installation of street lights and the acquisition of lands for house lots allocation.