A Co-op Society that had been trying to buy a piece of land at Foulis to build a housing scheme may soon see their plans come to fruition after a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo set plans in motion at the housing ministry.
Vice-President of the Co-op Society Mark Jackson said that the group which comprised about 200 persons had been trying to buy the approximately 22 acres of land for about six years now. According to the Government Information Agency (GINA) Jackson said the meeting with the president was fruitful and the group is hopeful that the project will be realised. The meeting was held on Wednesday.
Minister of Housing and Water, Harry Narine Nawbatt, who was also at the meeting said though no official decision had been made the Central Housing and Planning Authority, (CH&PA) will host a follow-up meeting with the Co-op to advance the project. The Co-op had requested a piece of land which is sub-divided into 101 low-income and 45 middle-income lots for its members. Nawbatt said too that the CH&PA’s policy does not allow for the allocation of blocks of land to groups and only to eligible individuals. As such, 146 of the lots were allocated to society members as well as other applicants.
In the meantime 13 persons have been granted titles for land. Four have already collected theirs. GINA said too lot allocation for Foulis was discontinued due to concerns that the area may be flood-prone. Subsequently, 15 persons were given alternative plots in other housing schemes. Nawbatt said after surveys had been completed a number of recommendations were made for the area to become habitable. This included installing an internal network of roadside drains and culverts to allow drainage for waste water and rainfall runoff; constructing houses on stilts and at a minimum of three feet above the existing land level and filling-in the land.
The minister said after hearing of these plans the Co-op indicated its interest in raising the area for infrastructural works as well as absolve the CH&PA from responsibility. Nawbatt said these are some of the options discussed at the meeting. He said too government has given the group the option of providing about $15M, the approximate total cost of all the house lots and it will match this sum. “As the case is a special one …should the group produce the payment sum for all the available lots …this [will] be placed in an account to be supervised by the Authority while Government will meet the sum with a similar amount and the project could move forward,” the minister said.
