A recent housing outreach hosted by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) has come under fire from former Junior Housing Minister and sitting Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson, who has labelled the exercise a “circus” that misled hopeful land recipients and left many feeling betrayed by the Ministry of Housing and Water.
In a sharply worded letter published yesterday, Ferguson condemned the CHPA’s Region 3 leg of its “Dream Realised” campaign, held on Monday, April 14, at which hundreds of Guyanese reportedly gathered expecting land allocations.
According to the A Partnership for Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) minister, based on firsthand accounts and viral videos from the event, attendees were instructed to bring funds for down payments, only to discover that few allocations were actually being made.
“Why did the Ministry invite everyone to converge at one venue, knowing full well the event was not intended to facilitate land allocations on the promised scale? What an absurdity!” Ferguson wrote.
She noted that instead of receiving new house lots, many citizens were issued only provisional letters; documents that do not guarantee land allocations but signal intent to allocate at a later date. Others received vouchers under the government’s ‘steel and cement subsidy initiative.’ The move, Ferguson argued, exposed a glaring disconnect between public expectations and the Ministry’s capacity to deliver.
The Region 3 activity followed a seemingly more orderly event held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center on April 11–12, where land titles were distributed to existing allottees. But Ferguson maintains that Monday’s extension of the outreach, targeting Region 3 residents, was poorly communicated and deeply flawed in execution.
Citing statements by Housing Minister Collin Croal, who in January admitted the government had “used up” most available lands in several regions, including the West Coast of Demerara, Ferguson questioned why citizens were invited to a land allocation event in an area with no confirmed land inventory.
“How can provisional letters be issued when there is no available land?” she asked, pointing to inconsistencies in the government’s housing policy and execution.
In remarks made during Monday’s event, Minister Croal acknowledged the backlog of pending housing applications and pledged that all applications submitted before December 31, 2024, would be addressed by July this year. But Ferguson dismissed the promise as election-year politicking, suggesting the government is “playing on the emotions of citizens” in an effort to salvage support.
She doubled down on her earlier critique that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government overpromised on its goal to deliver 50,000 house lots within its five-year term, asserting that “they cannot—and will not—reach that target before the 2025 elections.”
Ferguson also took aim at the Ministry’s centralised approach to distributing titles, calling it “a clear waste of time and public resources,” and urging a return to regionalised, data-driven systems. She reiterated her longstanding call for greater transparency, including the release of regional housing data and a forensic audit into land allocations, contract awards, and the steel and cement program.
In her closing, Ferguson issued a warning to the public: “Do not fall for the PPP/C’s political gimmicks when it comes to the housing sector.”
The Ministry of Housing and Water has yet to respond publicly to the concerns raised.
