Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, has indicated that his Ministry has achieved at least 95% of its work plan since 2020, and he is confident that the remaining 5% will be achieved in the coming months.

Contributing to the 2025 Budget debates, Minister Croal chided the Opposition’s housing record, and stated that the sector was at a standstill during the previous government.

He said the robustness of the housing sector since 2020 is due to the critical investments that the government has been making in housing and water, as it moves ahead with its community development plans.

“We have allocated 40,808 residential houselots and that does not include allocations for commercials and industrial lots. Mr. Speaker, we have completed infrastructural works in over 50 new housing areas and existing schemes, we have installed over 3,213 led lights in the West and East Ban, coast and Berbice,” Mr. Croal said.

In listing some other achievements of the Ministry, Mr. Croal said the Housing Ministry was also responsible for the completion of major highways on the East and West Banks of Demerara, as well as the introduction of housing subsidies and grants for vulnerable communities.

Further, he said that the Ministry succeeded in reducing squatter and unregulated settlements and opening new housing areas in almost every region.

“Mr. Speaker, these are our achievements to date, we still have a few months to go but these are real achievements, they are real fulfillment of the promises that we made to the people of Guyana. They trusted us and we have delivered and our government is working tirelessly to ensure that every Guyanese has access to affordable to sustainable housing,” the Housing Minister noted.

In response, Opposition Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson, said the government’s housing programme seems to be haphazard with no formal planning. This, she said, has resulted in persons being allocated lands and then be forced to wait years before they can access those lands to start their home construction.

“Mr. Speaker the urgency for a strategic approach to housing cannot be overstated, our communities deserve tangible actions and leadership that moves beyond temporary photo ops, it is imperative that the people must hold the government accountable when it comes to housing development,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson proposed a coherent housing plan, which should entail sustainable communities and faster response time for persons who apply for house lots.

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