Linden youths want legal age for house lot application lowered

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Linden youths want legal age for house lot application lowered

Sep 28, 2016 News

A youth consultation at the Lichas Hall in Linden, to effect a policy change regarding the legal age to apply for a house lot, saw the majority of persons in attendance saying that it should be lowered to 18.
At present, one has to be at least 21 years old, in order to apply for a house lot.
It was the third consultation held so far by Hon. Valerie Adams-Patterson.
The first consultation saw the Minister engaging the youths at Rose Hall, Berbice while the second targeted youths at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Minister Patterson, alluding to the current age of eligibility, pointed out that legally, a person becomes an adult at the age of 18, and engages in lots of adult activities including getting married, obtaining a driver’s license and are also allowed to vote.
Underscoring those issues, the Minister pointed out that if an 18 year-old can legally do all of the things an adult could, then that person should also be eligible to apply for a plot of land.
As such, she told the gathering that she is committed to pursuing a change in the current policy, which requires that applicants attain the age of 21 before he can legally apply for land. The change in policy she said, will allow for persons who have attained the age of 18 to legally make application for same.
“As soon as you attain the age of eighteen, you should be able to apply. Then between 18 and 21, you should qualify.
Even if you don’t have the wherewithal to pay, you should still apply because by the time it (application) is processed, you should be able to afford it,” Patterson said.
Several youths expressed their support for the initiative, saying that it was a step in the right direction. However there were a few persons who questioned where eighteen year olds would acquire the money to pay for the house lots, given the current rate of unemployment. There was also the question whether government would assist them.
Among those in support of the policy change were APNU Member of Parliament Germaine Figuiera and Councillor Leroy James.
Figuiera said, “I’m 110 percent in support of the proposal to lower the age of eligibility to 18.
At 18, young people are given licenses (drivers) and the opportunity to decide who they want to lead them, so why not (opportunity) to get a plot of land.”
He further posited that having accessibility to a plot of land at 18 is important to personal development.
Figuiera suggested that Government engage the banks in discussions, to help make the process of obtaining loans for housing easier for young people, and also for them to get lower rates of interest.
He alluded to the interest rates offered at the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) for business empowerment, which he said are much lower than the Banks. Figuiera added that owning a property is also empowering, and should be something that LEN could look into financing.
Consultations on the proposed policy change are expected to be held in other Regions over the next couple of weeks. (Enid Joaquin)

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One thought on “Linden youths want legal age for house lot application lowered”

modesty BLAZE September 28, 2016 at 2:39 pm

Lowering the age to apply for land is a great idea. However , why must an individual wait until 21 to be approved for the land. I do believe if a criterion is set at the time of application and the applicant meets all the requirement , the application should be approved immediately and not have the person wait 3 years. On the whole Guyanese should not even have to qualify for land, it should be their birth given right to automatically qualify, there is too much land out there for this nonsensical suggestion of waiting until 21 to qualify.
Betsy

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