Remigrant Housing Scheme must be made into gated community

Dear Editor,

Two weeks ago was a good day for the residents of the Remigrant Housing Scheme because a number of new land owners came to see the land that they purchased and soon more will be coming. 

But I am angry with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) for not making the Remigrant Housing Scheme a gated community.

While I’m happy to see that the government is making a great effort to sell the land in the Remigrant Housing Scheme, the land would sell much faster, if the government makes the scheme a gated community as was promised by the previous government and install speed bumps on the main road (double road).

The Remigrant Housing Scheme, the premier diaspora housing scheme in Guyana was heralded as a showpiece. It was supposed to offer a glimpse of what it would be like to bring North American style living to Guyana.

The Remigrant Housing Scheme was supposed to provide overseas-based Guyanese  with quality, luxurious and modern living.

Editor, after three years of this new government, the Remigrant Housing Scheme is looking like a jungle and dump site. The government has done very little to improve the conditions of the housing scheme or to provide exceptional services. Most of the landscape remains overgrown.

The Ministry of Communities officials are tightlipped when asked if the government has plans to make the scheme a gated community.

As a homeowner in the Providence (Remigrant Housing Scheme), when I talked with my neighbours about why they chose to buy land in this housing scheme, the number one reason they give me is that they were promised verbally by the CH&PA that the housing scheme will be a gated community.

Because of this, Editor, the CH&PA is on trial, and its public credibility is at stake. Like many other residents, the only reason I bought land in this community was because I was promised that it would be a gated community.

Editor, the people in this housing scheme chose this scheme because they wanted privacy, safety, security and exclusivity.

Editor, I’m dealing with heavy traffic, speeding cars and trucks in our community, making it less quiet and safe to walk. The morning commuters are using our streets as a shortcut to bypass the Demerara Bridge and traffic.

I chose to buy in here because I didn’t want to have to worry about that weird neighbour blasting the music at all times.

Today, the housing scheme has become a place to graze cows, dump garbage and a hotel room for lovers.

These lands came with a high asking price, four to seven million dollars. Therefore, CH&PA must make the housing scheme a gated community, clean the drains, install street lights, cut down the high bushes,  immediately remove the dead horse that was disposed of weeks ago in our neighbourhood and make the roads private so only the housing scheme residents can use it.

Yours faithfully,

(Name and address supplied)