Latest update September 18th, 2026 10:25 AM
Guyana and Jamaica forge housing partnership as Holness praises Ali’s development model
(Kaieteur News) – Jamaica is looking to Guyana as a model and partner in addressing its housing crisis, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced Thursday at the opening of the International Building Expo at the Guyana National Stadium, where President Irfaan Ali committed to building more than 300 homes in Jamaica as part of Hurricane Melissa recovery efforts.
Holness arrived in Georgetown facing a pressing housing deficit back home. Jamaica currently lacks approximately 150,000 housing solutions, he told attendees. The government has committed to delivering 70,000 of those directly through state agencies, with the National Housing Trust tasked with building a further 42,000, of which 10,000 have already been completed.
Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness
But the pace of delivery, Holness said, is being held back not by money but by structural bottlenecks. “The availability of contractors who can build at scale, the availability of labor and technical skills that can operate with new innovations and new materials, and of course the speed of government itself in giving planning and construction approvals, these have been our challenges,” he said.
He pointed to Guyana’s streamlining of approval processes, cutting wait times from as long as three years down to three months, as a direct lesson for Caribbean governments. “There is a culture in our public bureaucracy… that if it didn’t take long, it wasn’t well done. And it is an affliction of Caribbean public administration that we need to change.”
President Ali responded to Holness’s remarks with a concrete pledge. “Let us partner with Jamaica in building that 300 plus homes,” Ali said, directing the offer at communities displaced by erosion caused by Hurricane Melissa. He assured the Prime Minister that Guyana’s private sector, banks, builders, and material suppliers were ready to deliver.
President Irfaan Ali
Beyond Jamaica, Ali used the occasion to outline an ambitious domestic housing agenda. In the coming weeks, he announced, he will unveil a comprehensive housing development strategy aimed at eliminating the backlog of housing applications within four years. The strategy will include targeted support for people living with disabilities, single parents, and those in extreme vulnerability, he said, that every eligible person can “have a home in which you can live in dignity.”
The plan will also address demand across low, moderate, and middle-income segments as expectations from the public continue to grow alongside Guyana’s economy.
“Guyana has demonstrated what can be achieved when land, infrastructure, finance, and political will is brought together,” Holness said. He praised the integrated nature of Guyana’s housing developments, not merely houses, but serviced communities with roads, drainage, water, electricity, and connectivity, as an approach the wider Caribbean should study.
Housing Minister Collin Croal highlighted that over the past five years, the government has processed approximately 25,000 land titles, a figure that reflects the administrative overhaul underpinning the housing programme. Minister within the Ministry Vanessa Benn also addressed the opening ceremony.
The housing collaboration sits within a wider bilateral relationship taking shape between Georgetown and Kingston. President Ali noted that the two countries are also in discussions on culture, sports, elite athlete training, and the development of Guyana’s cricketing academy.
The International Building Expo, which opened Thursday, concludes today.=
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