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APNU slams houselot allocation process

Jul 06, 2012 News

…says it is “a system gone horribly wrong”

 

Parliamentary opposition, A Partnership of National Unity (APNU), has called for an urgent review of the houselot allocation process.
APNU’s Shadow Minister of Public Works, Joseph Harmon, yesterday said that his party has been receiving numerous complaints over the process. It was brought more starkly to the forefront following last month’s Ministry of Housing “One Stop Shop” which left scores of persons upset.
During APNU’s weekly press conference, Harmon asserted that the current house lot allocation problem needs urgent intervention.
APNU’s offices in Georgetown, East and West Bank of Demerara, have received several complaints from persons who were at the stadium for the “One Stop Shop” on June 14.
About 30 persons who were a part of the exercise complained that they were issued with allocation letters to go to the stadium to pay half of the sum on their house lots, and were there from as early as 06:00hrs. They were issued with numbers and told to wait. As at 18:00 hrs, some twelve hours later, despite evidence of over 2,000 waiting, only 400 house lots were allocated.
The APNU official pointed out that it came as a shock for many persons allocated houselots for $300,000, when they were told later that evening by housing officials that they had an option of paying $900,000 or $1.2M to acquire a plot of land or lose the opportunity altogether.
According to Harmon, this resulted in the hopes of many Guyanese being dashed.
“The spectacle of hundreds of Guyanese citizens leaving the stadium in the dark of the night with sums of money ranging from $150,000 to $600,000 is a clear manifestation of a system gone horribly wrong,” Harmon said.
The official said that APNU was firmly of the position that the entire houselot allocation process should be subjected to an urgent and independent inquiry so as to restore the credibility of the Housing Ministry in the eyes of the Guyanese citizens, especially in the eyes of the poor people who are trying to acquire houselots.
Harmon said one of the suggestions being tabled by the opposition is that after the interviews are conducted and before issuing persons with allocation letters, the Ministry should ensure that the houselots are available within the specified price ranges. Once this is made clear, then it reduces the possibility of persons from the Housing Ministry asking for “compensation” outside the price of the houselots.
Meanwhile, on the question of the Housing Ministry’s repossession of vacant lands, Harmon disclosed that he is still waiting to see a report on an audit carried out last year on these.
Several persons have already received letters requesting that they start building. New houselot owners are given six months to start construction.

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