Dear Editor,
It is never wise to criticize anyone for their shortsightedness in public, even when methodological flaws are involved. And so I take to lauding the very few whose criterion in dealing with the ordinary citizenry falls not in the abyss of those I had previously assailed. For it is apparent that there is a lending institution which had somehow escaped my notice and mention in a letter about acquiring mortgages in Guyana, mainly because it does not call itself a ‘bank.‘ But the satisfactory performance of this institution has only now come to my attention, and it shows itself to be better qualified, and better experienced than others in dealing with prospective applicants seeking opportunities to build homes in the new Guyana.
And here I speak of the New Building Society, which offers affordable loans with reasonable interest rates to anyone without the qualification that they must be youthful, but provided they show proof that repayment is without hardship. This society has been lending to the people of Guyana irrespective of class status and extraneous conditions for more than seventy years, and thereby has learned to use good faith coupled with a genuine willingness to assist.
They have examined the impact of sound reasoning in lending, and moreover have examined and removed the discriminatory contradictions of class that others have not.
Obviously, Guyana is comprised of an extensive low, a promising and healthy middle, and a limited upper class society.
With those institutions which cater only to the middle on conditions, and to the upper classes frequently, how can there be equal growth as is expounded and encouraged by the leaders of this country? Of the many thousand house lots allocated to the populace in need, only 68% were successful in obtaining mortgages – why?
Borrowing money to build a home is not as easy as being a recipient at a one-stop government land shop. I am aware the government is at this time busy with post-elections affairs.
But later, the successful candidate who holds the keys should oversee and deal with the widening difficulties in acquiring loans so as to guarantee true equality in the area of erecting homes.
Again I give kudos to the New Building Society; Guyana is in desperate need of more businesses like this if the entire country is to experience progress.
Yours faithfully,
Jorge Bowenforbes
