Latest update December 25th, 2024 1:10 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

The Housing Authority should bring an end to this madness

Jan 26, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I had a stroll recently through parts of the city which, in days gone by, were considered as residential areas. I was horrified by the changes that are taking place within the areas of Queenstown and Alberttown.
It seems that those areas are no longer classified as residential areas. Businesses are propping up at almost every two house lots in Alberttown. Queenstown is being disfigured also by ugly construction
The designation of an area as a residential area does not mean that there were no shops or businesses. A residential area always has to be zoned in a way that would allow for a small number of shops and businesses to cater for the needs of residents.
What it does not mean is that it is okay for persons to be permitted to open a business every two lots, as seems to be the case in Alberttown.
Queenstown is also being overtaken by businesses. A few months ago, a Senior Counsel wrote a letter to the media indicating that the laws of Guyana do not allow for businesses to be erected in that area, within certain boundaries. Yet he counted, I believe, fifty-five establishments which were operating there.
Georgetown was intended to be a small city. A small city has markets, it has commercial districts and it has residential areas. Having residential areas, allows for persons to live near to where work can be found. This is why areas in the city are usually designated as residential areas. You must have places where people can live.
In colonial Guyana, the most ordinary of citizens could, with hard work and savings, hope to one day live in either Alberttown or Queenstown. You might not always be able to afford a front house, but you will be able to afford a back house. Working class families, particularly middle class professionals, were able to acquire properties in those areas.
That dream is now an impossible dream. The real estate value of properties in those areas has skyrocketed. A working class person can no longer afford a property in those areas. In fact, the way things are going, the business community is going to eventually gobble up most of the residential areas in central Georgetown.
This is already happening. Huge structures are being erected, dwarfing small cottages and other residential homes. It is not a pleasant sight. The aesthetics of Queenstown and Alberttown have been destroyed. Businesses are being erected where popular families once lived. The character of the city is changing.
Property relations are also changing. The business community is gobbling up real estate. This will exacerbate inequality in our country. It is rumoured that one businessman owns as many as one hundred properties in Georgetown alone. When you see working class people lining up for house lots in a country in which houses in parts of the country are unoccupied, you must understand that the housing stock is being taken over and converted to businesses in the traditional residential areas of the city.
The Central Housing and Planning Authority should bring an end to this madness. It should preserve the old residential areas of the City by limiting new construction for business purposes in these areas. It should allow working people, particularly the middle class, to once again dream of owning a home without having to go to the suburbs and beyond.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

The wait is over, all roads lead to KMTC for their Grand Boxing Day Horse race meet

The wait is over, all roads lead to KMTC for their Grand Boxing Day...

Dec 25, 2024

Over 70 entries in as $7M in prizes at stake  By Samuel Whyte Kaieteur Sports- The time has come and the wait is over and its gallop time as the biggest event for the year-end season is set for the...
Read More
Xhiya Hercules – flipping the script towards Gymnastics history for Guyana

Xhiya Hercules – flipping the script towards...

Dec 25, 2024

Road Warriors, Bent Street, Team Cruel & Gold Is Money into quarter-finals

Road Warriors, Bent Street, Team Cruel &...

Dec 25, 2024

Deol maiden hundred outshines Matthews’ as India take series

Deol maiden hundred outshines Matthews’ as...

Dec 25, 2024

Moraikobai village two days football competition and fun day set for Old and New Year’s Day

Moraikobai village two days football competition...

Dec 25, 2024

BCB thanks cricket fraternity for strong support in 2024

BCB thanks cricket fraternity for strong support...

Dec 25, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]