A roof over one’s head

Oct 03, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
One indicator of social progress is the extent to which people can claim ownership of a roof over their head. There was a time in Guyana when ownership of a piece of land to build a home was a well nigh impossibility especially for low income people who barely could survive on their income much less save to purchase a land on which to build a house.
Not that there were not enough state lands available to open up housing schemes but housing was never a priority of the previous PNC administration. The only attempt to provide some housing to the population was during the 1972-1976 period when the regime promised to build 65,000 houses under its “Feed, Clothe and House the Nation” programme.
A mere 13 000 housing units were build over that period the majority of which were doled out to party activists and card bearing members. The housing programme turned out to be a big failure as the sugar and bauxite windfall dried up and the economy began to slide. It did not take long before the housing programme was completely scrapped forcing many Guyanese to squat on state lands. Sophia became the largest squatting area in the country as many families who could not afford to pay rents were forced to live in make shift homes in order to survive.
It took the coming to office of the PPP/C administration before squatting became regularized with the construction of paved roads, electricity, running water among other amenities. Today Sophia boasts a new nursery and primary school, a health centre, fire station and several business places.
Sophia is one of several areas which were regularized by the PPP/C government. But it is the proliferation of new housing schemes all over the country that would go down as one of the stellar achievement of this administration. Many people who at one time lost hope of ever owning their own homes are today the proud owners of a home they could call their own.
Those of us who lived in rented homes for most of our adult lives know what it means to own your own home. It provides that feeling of security of knowing that you cannot be kicked out from your apartment because of your inability to pay your rent on time or even worse because your landlady or landlord has grown tired of you or has got a better offer than you could afford.
These days it makes much greater economic sense to build a low income home rather than paying rents. Obtaining a piece of land especially in the case of families is much easier today than before thanks to the massive housing drive by the current administration. Moreover, the banking system, in particular the New Building Society is much more responsive to the needs of low income families and repayment terms and conditions are not onerous.
There can be no doubt that young people today are in a much more advantageous position in terms of owning a home when compared to their parents. This is so because of the emphasis placed on housing by the PPP/C government and the facilitating role it has been playing in terms of providing a roof over the heads of Guyanese.
What the PPP/C government has done since it came to power was to restore hope and pride in the people of Guyana who for decades had grown tired of the PNC regime and had lost confidence in the then administration to deliver on its promises. Guyanese were fed an unending diet of promises and slogans which never materialized. Instead, conditions of life deteriorated until the regime was forced to change its slogan from “Feed, House and Clothe the Nation” in the mid-1970s to “Eat Less, Sleep Less, Work Hard” by the turn of the 1980s.
I take this opportunity to encourage all Guyanese to check out the numerous booths on display at GUYEXPO this weekend and to see first hand how far we have advanced as a nation in terms of our manufacturing and construction capacity. This exposition provides an opportunity to showcase our potential and creativity in all facets of national life.
We have come a long way since the restoration of democracy on October 5, 1992. In another few days Guyana will observe twenty two years since the restoration of democracy to the country after some twenty-eight years of dictatorial rule. This is an important milestone the significance of which cannot be overemphasized.
Hydar Ally

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A roof over one’s head

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