Dear Editor,
Those who read my letters in Kaieteur News, will no doubt conclude that I’m a constant critic, and perhaps a pain in the side of the Jagdeo administration. I believe that my constructive criticism of the government to be justified when one considers their lack of transparency and accountability; secretive deals; wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money; and the unsustainable unemployment rate that may be the leading contributor to the surge in violent crime and broken homes. But I’m a firm believer that one should praise progress and success with the same vigour and intensity that one is willing to criticize failure. Hence, I must ‘give Jack his jacket,’ and credit the administration when due.
I applaud the PPP/C government and specifically Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali, for their ongoing effort at making homeownership a reality, and one that’s affordable to lower income families.
Guyana is 83,000 sq miles with a 2010 projected population of between 777,873 and 787,517. More than 90% of the people live on 5% of the land along the Atlantic coast; the interior is practically uninhabited. After the completion of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway in 1968, the PNC administration allocated land to farmers and other individuals along the highway, in what I believe was an attempt to relocate communities away from the densely populated coastal areas. History proved this to be a failure, and in May, 1973, as part of Forbes Burnham’s ‘Feed, Clothe and House’ campaign, the PNC administration embarked on a very ambitious programme of building 65,000 housing units by 1976. The government faced stiff opposition from the PPP which raised questions about the funding of this project, very reminiscent of what is happening today.
In the end, 33,000 units were built if you believe the PNC, or a dismal 4,167 if you believe the PPP. But whatever the actual amount was, it fell far short of the objective because the Burnham administration was unable to obtain the necessary funding from the multilateral agencies they had hoped for.
It would appear that the Jagdeo administration has benefited from the failures of this era, and have done their homework well. Not only are they identifying and developing appropriate areas with the necessary infrastructure, but they have been able to secure the cooperation of the commercial banks to provide low-interest rates and affordable mortgages to these new home-owners.
It is my hope, however, that selected groups are not targeted, and that an honest attempt is made to fairly distribute house lots to all qualified Guyanese, regardless of party affiliation.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Gill
