Distribution of houses and house lots helps in curbing the transmission of generational inequality

Jun 25, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The elderly mother-grandmother smiled, then wept upon receiving her new home. From the perspective of cost, a gift from the Guyana government. Between tears, and with clasped hands held close to her heart, she thanked everyone present – as if in symbolic gesture of gratitude simultaneously to both man and God. Speaking haltingly, she dried her tears while she continued to express gratitude to the government. This is just a singular example of President Irfaan’s initiative to adequately house disadvantaged Guyanese.

Globally, poverty has amassed numerous victims some of whom are Guyanese – for poverty, especially extreme poverty, afflicts over 700 million worldwide. In some instances, poor Guyanese reside in single room cottages not too distant from wealthy neighborhoods. Others cluster in shanties built on vacant land on the outskirts of residential communities, while some reside in what Guyanese commonly refer to as “camps” located in the backyards of parents or relatives.

Constituted of squatters and non-squatters, most of Guyana’s poor survive at a subsistence level of existence, irrespective of their residential locations. In 2020, cognizant of this lingering societal problem, the PPP/C government in general, and president Irfaan in particular, announced the distribution of house lots and small homes to the needy in efforts to facilitate their uplift out of the subculture of poverty. And, in 2021, distribution began in earnest.

For most Guyanese, homeownership serves a source of pride, an indication of stability, and to some extent economic wellbeing, while non-homeownership is regularly stigmatized, and associated with laziness -an indication of social degradation. Such perceptions, presumably, are said to be prevalent among those who seek to distance themselves from working class laborers.

The negative stereotypes of people living in shacks, and dilapidated cottages and homes regularly contribute to demoralization, the loss of self-worth, and other forms of social pathology. Negatively labelled, some turn to a life of crime, prostitution, and other deviant acts to survive. In the main, however, most are minimum wage and day laborers, single parents, elderly, small plot farmers, etc., all of whom lead lives in quiet contemplation of residential stability, or ownership of land, and escape from the demoralization of poverty.

Through the distribution of house lots and affordable homes, the government’s action is more likely to succeed in decreasing the transmission of generational inequality over time, especially among dispossessed Guyanese. The allotment of house lots to those gainfully employed would enable many to construct homes for themselves and families with or without assistance from the Home Construction Facility Agency (HCFA). Such homeownership, most likely, will contribute to the families’ socio-economic stability while facilitating children’s preparation for successful futures (See Guyana Chronicle, May 17, 2022). And the provision of affordable homes to the underemployed would, in all probability, assist in alleviating the pangs of poverty and result in more productive lifestyles.

In the distribution of house lots and affordable homes to economically disadvantaged Guyanese, the PPP/C government is addressing and bridging Guyana’s racial and ethnic divides, for poverty does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity. Whatever one’s ethnicity, homeownership, or the provision of house lots serve as the genesis in the restoration of dignity.

In the loss of dignity, many become depressed, alienated, and hopeless, all of which push the individual further down the spiraling abyss of despondency and unworthiness. It is therefore commendable that the distribution of small homes and house lots cut across all races and ethnicities in adherence to the PPP/C’s ‘One Guyana’ policy.

However, the PPP/C’s policy of housing disadvantaged Guyanese is not without its critics. Depending on their political allegiances, affiliations, and ethnicities, critics accuse the government of pandering to poverty stricken, and indolent Afro, or Indo Guyanese voters. While erroneous claims elude refutation, given the President Irfaan’s ongoing housing initiatives, it would be advantageous for the government to encourage follow-up research on the strengths and weaknesses of such policy. In this regard, the government may find it beneficial in providing summer research internships to University of Guyana seniors. These students, regularly representing all ethnicities, reside in various parts of the country, and given their residential proximities, would be responsible for conducting annual field research on the lives and conditions of individuals/families who received house lots and affordable homes.

In part, data collection should focus on racial-ethnic gaps (if any) in the distribution and possession of house lots and homes, in addition to individual/familial differences in climbing out of poverty. Such research endeavour would benefit both students and government. For, while students would gain valuable research and analytical experience, over time the collection of data on the dynamics of home ownership would better inform national policy regarding the impact and influence of intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Undoubtedly, the distribution of house lots and affordable homes serve to benefit both the government and the recipients. On the one hand, the government benefits from the reduction of poverty and its prevailing negative generation of delinquency, crime, residential squalor, and the spread of infectious diseases associated insanitary living conditions. On the other hand, recipients benefit through improvements in their residential and socio-economic circumstances.

In toto, the possession of affordable homes and house lots will likely serve as motivating factors in improving the lives of recipients, for such ownership of property customarily brings hope where hopelessness once resided, and emotional security where fear and insecurities once prevailed – all in expectation of bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots and building a more equitable society.

Narayan Persaud, PhD

Professor Emeritus

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• Economic, Emeritus, Narayan Persaud, PhD, Professor

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