Govt. pumps $159B into housing, billions more into water expansion

Jan 27, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The Government has earmarked $159.1 billion for housing development and billions more for nationwide water infrastructure upgrades as part of its $1.558 trillion 2026 budget, signaling one of the largest combined investments in shelter and utilities in Guyana’s history.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, in his budget presentation to the National Assembly on Monday, said the spending push is aimed at expanding housing communities, delivering thousands of new house lots and homes, improving living conditions in existing settlements, and ensuring reliable access to safe, potable water across coastal and hinterland regions.

According to Singh, the housing allocation will fund development works in dozens of areas including Moleson Creek, Hogstye, Providence, Overwinning, Experiment, De Endragt, Chateau Margot, Le Ressouvenir, Wales, Hoff–Van–Aurich, Onderneeming, Mabaruma, Bartica, Silica City, Wismar, Kwakwani and Lethem.

The administration also hopes to allocate 15,000 house lots across all income categories in areas such as Moleson Creek, Providence, Vryheid’s Lust, Leonora and Charity. Facilitate the construction of a further 8,000 homes in areas such as Moleson Creek, Overwinning, Providence, Better Hope, Montrose, Vryheid’s Lust, Groenveldt and Leonora are also on the cards.

It also intends to issue over 7,000 titles and transports, which will allow property owners access to collateral for mortgage loans and provide security of tenure. These were all mentioned by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh as he unveiled government’s $1.558 Trillion budget on Monday in the National Assembly.

“Mr. Speaker, in the context of more persons owning their own homes, along with the growing expectation of more comfortable communities, we will implement a number of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life enjoyed in existing housing communities. In 2026, some of these will include: Constructing concrete interlock drains along the concrete roads already constructed in villages countrywide, for which a sum of $8 billion is budgeted; developing new and improved recreational facilities and green spaces; installing community street lighting in main access roads, major junctions, and heavy traffic areas, in the first instance, and further rolling these out in the communities,” Singh noted.

He said too that the government will develop designated mini-industrial areas for certain categories of business to be located in order to reduce noise and dust pollution in heavily populated areas.  “Mr. Speaker, building on the sweeping transformation of the housing sector, the Silica City project remains an important part of the Government’s vision. In 2025, we completed over 200 residential units, including 100 young professional homes, along with the advancement of other supporting infrastructure. In 2026, Government will continue works to ensure that this flagship project progresses, reflecting our sustainable approach to modern housing development,” Dr Singh told the House.

Waters sector

Meanwhile, turning to the water sector, Dr Singh said access to safe and clean water is not only a basic human right but one of the most essential necessities for a healthy life. He said in Guyana, “we are blessed with an abundance of this resource. However, the process to extract and deliver quality, affordable, and reliable potable water services to all Guyanese requires substantial financial investments and technical expertise. Our objective is to provide access to a reliable supply of potable water nationwide by: drilling new wells and refurbishing existing ones where needed; expanding and upgrading the T&D network; constructing new water treatment plants; applying leak detection technology to safeguard the integrity and quality of water; digitising the metering and billing system; and making customer complaints fully automated.”

Dr Singh said mindful of the imperative to provide universal access to potable water, over the last term, our government drilled 29 deep water new wells along the coastland and 230 medium-depth wells in hinterland communities, and expanded and replaced T&D mains countrywide. In 2025 alone, he said six deep water wells and over 170 km of T&D networks were completed in several coastal and urban areas such as De Groot, Annandale, Friendship and Sophia, benefitting over 143,000 residents.

“Going forward, in 2026, works will advance on several new wells including Westminster, Yarrowkabra, and No. 56 Village benefiting over 81,000 residents. We will also work on the laying of over 100 km of distribution mains, as well as on improving leak detection using modern systems such as acoustic sensors and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) which allow field teams to pinpoint hidden leaks rapidly and accurately, thereby lowering operational costs while improving the safety and reliability of water supply to customers.”

Singh said in the hinterland, in 2025, over 90 wells were completed along with improvements to water distribution systems in areas such as Kumaka, Kato and Aishalton, benefitting over 25,000 residents. In 2026, “we will provide access to water to over 37,000 hinterland residents through key interventions such as: Construction of new wells and water distribution systems at areas including Port Kaituma, Mabaruma, Bethany, Sand Hills, Batavia, Mora Camp, Campbelltown, Mahdia, Kumu and Shea.”  Additionally, he said the government will be deploying solar PV systems to enhance reliability and reduce operating costs at Baramita, Waramuri, Kwebenna and Jawalla, among other areas. They will also procure and install electromechanical components and critical spares to ensure operational reliability and long-term sustainability of existing systems.

For these initiatives, a sum of $1.5 billion has been budgeted.  Dr Singh told the House that in 2026, works will advance on the 24 million litres per day (mld) capacity surface water treatment plant at Hope to benefit over 35,000 residents in the Cane Grove to Cove and John corridor.

Meanwhile, a second 26 mld surface water treatment plant at Diamond to service over 36,000 residents on the EBD corridor is currently being procured and construction is set to commence this year. Additionally, the Shelterbelt will undergo upgrades to improve the water treatment capacity from 45 to 65 mld to serve the Greater Georgetown community, benefiting over 60,000 residents upon completion. To this end, the sum of $8.2 billion is budgeted in 2026 to advance works on these and other interventions in coastal and urban communities. “Mr. Speaker, to achieve our vision for the water sector, a sum of $19.7 billion was expended in 2025. This year, an additional sum of $21.6 billion is budgeted to progress on improvements across the sector,” the finance minister declared.

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• budget, housing development, Infrastructure, water

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