Approximately fifty (50) homeowners in Pigeon Island, Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara have been promised certificate of titles for lands, by Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), after years of illegal occupancy. One resident said she had been occupying the land since 2003.
On Tuesday President Irfaan Ali made the announcement during a cabinet outreach he led in the area. The area which originally fell under the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) was identified for review during Ali’s ministerial leadership of the Ministry of Housing.
The government is claiming credit for re-activating the programme when it returned to office in 2020. Reportedly the CHPA has engaged NICIL to have the lands transferred to CHPA to advance the process.
Minister of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues assured residents the vesting order to pursue with ownership has already been published in the Official Gazette and in two weeks the CHPA will be in receipt of that block of transport. The area is proposed to be subdivided, said the minister, and the ministry will begin to distribute the long-awaited titled documents for the lands by year end.
Those with pending applications were told their applications be addressed.
Residents have been promised once the process is completed they will be able to access electricity, water and other amenities that comes with a wholesome community.
Recent housing development in Guyana has not kept pace with movement of people and modernisation. Many have been forced and/or are
politically encouraged to squat in order to acquire a piece of land and own a home. Development at best has been shoddy, devoid of basic infrastructures and amenities new homeowners in Development Communities were accustomed to in the 1960-1970s. The backlog of applications for house lots is also overwhelming and in instances have fallen prey to partisan politics and allegations to secure ownership or be deprived.
