Rather than taking praise, the Minister of Housing should correct the deficiencies at his ministry

Apr 01, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News’ editorial of March 13,”The wait for a house-lot” has revealed some of the problems that exist in Guyana’s Housing Authority. The lengthy waiting period experienced daily by the public at the Ministry of Housing to rectify simple problems is ample testimony that gross inefficiencies continue to plague the Ministry, which is bordering on being a failed system. There can be no logic as to why someone had to wait 17 years to receive the title for a house lot in Region 5! What is even more bizarre is the Housing Minister, Colin Croal, was proudly depicted issuing the land title to Miss Archer whose long wait spanned both the PPP and the APNU+AFC governments. Instead, he should have noted that the injustice done to Miss Archer occurred prior to 2015 during his PPP administration.
There can be no doubt that the citizens of Guyana continue to be at the receiving end of a dysfunctional political directorate, a disorganised, arrogant, and incompetent bureaucratic system that seems to be normalised by the government. The simple task of allocating a house lot to applicants can be performed by clerks or a senior public servant and should not take decades. So rather than taking praise, the Minister of Housing should correct the deficiencies at his ministry. He should also issue an edict to the bureaucrats at the Ministry that they are the servants of the people and not their bosses.
Studies have shown that Bangladesh with its 57,000 square miles and 160 million inhabitants has a better housing system in place than what Guyana has, to award house lots to its citizens. It reveals how profoundly terrible the Housing authorities in Guyana have and continued to treat its citizens. With 83,000 square miles and less than 800,000 people, it is regrettable, sad, and very disgraceful how governments, past and present could have people waiting for decades before they could obtain a house lot. It shows that the Housing Authority has failed the people in facilitating a basic human necessity. So far, no administration has successfully addressed this issue, and this is true with the current PPP administration.
Another suspicious undertaking by the Housing Authority is how it grants house lots and to whom. It is a well-known fact that both the APNU+AFC and PPP governments have in the past granted house lots to relatives, friends, and party members. This discriminatory practice is not only unfair but is also highly intolerant by governments that claimed they were elected to govern in the interest of all. These are some of the litanies of pitfalls choking the Housing system, which can be overcome if the powers that be aspired to formulate new housing schemes and real estate procedures. Few can dispute that Guyana Housing Authority is in disarray. Not only it does not act fairly, but it has marginalised and discriminated against most house lot applicants, who are not affiliated to the two major parties or friends or relatives of politicians. It is a sad state of affair which is still happening in our beloved Guyana.
Yours truly,
Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

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Rather than taking praise, the Minister of Housing should correct the deficiencies at his ministry

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