…as IDB approves loan
The Inter-American Develop-ment Bank (IDB) yesterday approved a $27.9M ($5.7B) loan for Guyana, which is expected to assist low-income families to access quality homes.
The funding will finance the government’s Second Low Income Settlement Programme, which is expected to benefit about 12,000 households or 8% of the country’s households, the IDB said in a release from Washington. The Bank noted that despite a population drop due to migration, Guyana, with 760,000 people suffers from a deficit of 19,400 homes for the low-income population.

“Demand for quality housing is also unmet, as an estimated 52,000 houses are over 30 years old and not properly maintained”, the Bank stated.
The first Low Income Settlement Programme has been successful in accompanying a land divestiture process initiated in 1992 and the programme has benefitted about 19,000 mostly low-income households over its seven years of execution, the bank said.

The IDB said that pending challenges include improving the standards for the sites; equipped with basic services such as water, electricity, septic tanks and access to roads; introducing pilots for improved access to housing opportunities through a self-build process; and supporting specific housing demands such as workforce housing for the occupations needed in every community, including teachers and nurses.

In order to address these concerns, the second programme focuses on three areas namely developing new sites with basic services, consolidating existing housing schemes and upgrading squatter areas; implementing pilots to attend issues of affordability and sustainability and strengthening the Central Housing and Planning Authority.

The IDB’s loan consists of US$13.95M from the Bank’s ordinary capital for a 30-year term including a six-year grace period at a variable interest rate, and US$13.95M from the Fund for Special Operations for a 40-year term and grace period, at 0.25% interest rate.

In his presentation to the 2007 budget debate, the then Minister of Housing and Water, Harrinarine Nawbatt had said that the Government of Guyana/Inter-American Development Bank low income settlement project had achieved an overall completion rate of 95% up to 2006 and had been scheduled for completion in May last year.

He had said that some $795M was spent in 2006 on housing infrastructure under this project for more than 9,000 house lots in areas including Zeelugt North and Blocks A, B and C Sophia. Additionally, the minister had said that 100 lots at Parfait Harmonie under the low income settlements project were to be provided with infrastructure by the end of last year. Nawbatt had said that the ministry intended to spend $1.6B to further enable citizens to own their own homes, provide security of tenure and improve the quality of life in squatter settlements at Parfait Harmonie, Kaneville, Sophia (A&B) and Block 22 Wismar, where in excess of 14,800 persons will benefit.
Another $800M, the minister had disclosed, would be spent under the grant funds provided by the European Union for low income housing.