Govt. hunting for more housing lands, after using up those available in several regions – Min. Croal

Jan 04, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- The Ministry of Housing and Water has reached the saturation point for available lands in several regions, subject Minister Collin Croal disclosed on Friday.

The Minister was at the time speaking at this Ministry’s 2024 year-end press conference where he detailed the challenges and progress of housing developments across the country, noting ongoing efforts to acquire additional lands.

As of December 27, 2024, 10,377 land allocations were completed, 10,216 plots were distributed for residential use, 157 for residential – commercial use and four for religious purposes. He said that over 40,290 residential lots have been allocated by the government so far and disclosed that there are plans to surpass the target to allocate over 50,000 house lots by the end of 2025.

In Region Two, the Ministry is still awaiting finalization for the acquisition of more lands. “[At]Charity and Onderneeming there is a team working to acquire additional lands. In the case of Region Two, we are still awaiting the finalization for the acquisition of additional lands, but we have saturated what we have there,” Croal said.

Region Three has also reached the limit of available lands on the West Coast of Demerara.

“On the lands we have been given to us, we have reached the saturation point, that is why you see a consolidation at Wales, and more lands are being made available at Wales, and there are lands available at Wales as I speak,” Croal explained.

For Region Four, the Minister confirmed that the East Bank of Demerara has been used up for housing allocations.

“We have not been able to allocate for East Bank of Demerara for the last year and a half. All our allocation we have done is consolidated on the East Coast of Demerara, and as I speak, additional lands on the East Coast of Demerara are being made available,” he said.

The Minister explained that attempts to expand further on the East Bank have been hampered by the proximity to the conservancy. “We have received a warning letter, by the way, from NDIA because if you go inwards which will be going east, you’re actually reaching the conservancy that’s how far we have reached for the east bank,” he disclosed.

In Region Five, the available lands have also been exhausted, except for one area. “We have one area that we have available and that’s at Burma but with MMA and our team we have identified some additional lands led by the Minister of Agriculture and MMA. They are currently reviewing those applications and we are very sure that we will be getting that approval to proceed for our design,” Minister Croal noted.

He said that progress has been made in Region Six, where additional lands were recently acquired. “But in terms of additional lands we’re optimistic, we are working with GuySuCo because most of the additional lands to acquire Lands and Survey has already informed us that those lands are under the purview of GuySuCo,” he said.

Minister Croal explained that various government agencies have competing interests – while the Housing Ministry may need land for housing development – other agencies might need it for agricultural purposes.

Further, in Region Ten, Amelia’s Ward has been saturated for house lot allocations, but new areas at Wismar have been developed the Minister said.

“We were able to allocate [recently] where it’s in the new areas of Wismar, and that’s where because we were able to get additional lands for that area,” Croal stated.

For other regions, the Minister highlighted ongoing efforts to secure more lands. In Region Seven, new lands have been identified for Bartica. In Region Eight, lands are still available for allocation, while in Region Nine, additional lands are being provided via Lands and Surveys.

Moreover, the Minister said too that 1,724 houses are being constructed and are set for completion by mid-2025.

Minister Croal also outlined other key achievements for the year, including the allocation of 504 housing units and the completion of 550 houses in 2024 with an investment of $4.3 billion. For 2024, over 65.7 kilometres of road were upgraded to asphaltic concrete surfaces in several areas and more than 9.1 kilometres of four-lane macro roads were completed in Regions Three and Four.

“Yes, we have seen some criticisms and rightfully so in terms of work and quality of work done and this is something we’ve strengthened in terms of the monitoring team of the housing unit,” the minister noted.

(Govt. hunting for more housing lands, after using up those available in several regions – Min. Croal)

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• Collin Croal, housing, land, ministry

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