On any given day, one can see long lines stretched outside of the Central Housing and Planning Authority. Amongst these you can find young persons desirous of owning their own homes and those who have applied for land as much as two decades ago. Considerable chatter is always made about the significant backlog within the housing sector and that every government makes promises to address these. Despite these promises however, very little continues to be done to build a sustainable plan of action to address the housing crisis within Guyana.
There are many things that are flawed within the housing sector; amongst these is the ad hoc way in which the country’s housing and community development occurs. While leaders are always keen on making decentralization efforts a talking point, it rarely ever moves past this. Government’s continued focus on doing the bare minimum and a people who are forced to take what is given to them continues to see the stagnation of the sector. As a result, the rates of the un-housed continue to grow particularly during economic recessions like the one we are currently experiencing.
According to a study released in 2016 by the Inter-American Development Bank, Guyana has a housing deficit of 20, 000 units for low-income families. With a population still less than one million and a steadily declining number due to migration out of the country, the increasing housing deficit and demand we see are based on rural to urban migratory patterns. There are many reasons for internal migration, key amongst those however are lack of appropriate/enough jobs, infrastructure, educational limitations and a lack of spaces for social activities. Any sustainable plan towards the housing sector needs to address the decentralization of economic, infrastructural and social development from being mainly within the capital.
It should go without saying that investment in areas outside of the sinking and overpopulated environs of Georgetown is a strategic move towards a future centred on collective growth and development. Politicians however, continue to live for the here and now while citizens bear the brunt effects of their actions and policies or lack thereof.
Due to this lack of foresight and effort into focusing on the development and growth of other areas, those who are lucky enough to receive lands through the ad hoc land granting process often find themselves having to contend with what is essentially swampland. There seems to be the general idea that all that needs to be provided to the people, is the land upon which one can erect a building, rather than a community that will be able to grow commercially and which possesses access to basic infrastructure, utilities and recreational spaces. Housing development is much more than simply providing house lots. Too often persons are forced to build in places that have little to no access to transportation, schools, health centres, water and electricity. Of course, the ones that are primarily affected by this are low-income earners who might very well have no other option than to struggle to live on the land given to them, granted that they are even able to secure and maintain it.
After waiting years for responses on their land application, many with no prior notice receive calls that their application has been approved and they need to pay for the land within as little as three days. Failure to come up with these funds can see them losing their chance of becoming landowners. This is an anti-poor strategy that seeks to weed out those who they believe to be less than deserving. Unsurprisingly, there is an ethnic element with regards to who the majority of landowners continue to be and those who continue to rent. Added to the short timeline of payment, if construction on the land paid for does not begin soon, the government can retake the land and give it to another applicant. This is done even while being fully aware that the majority of low-income earners have a relatively hard time accessing building loans or enough spare resources to begin construction on their own.
Currently, there have been reinitiated talks about pre-approved loans to young professionals and low-income families marching towards land and home ownership. While the Ministry of Housing and Water seems to be benefiting from the energy and direction of the Junior Minister, Susan Rodrigues, one can only hope that these efforts are sustained and result in long-term sustainable actions that realize housing and community development across Guyana. The public relations teams of politicians are always up and running but unfortunately, teams centred on maintained planning and action always tend to be a little less active.
Leadership on the housing sector must move away from being a political scoring point for personal and party brands and instead focus on the ways in which government completes its mandate of investing in the growth and security of its citizens. The onus cannot continue to be placed on individuals and do-gooder non-profits to build communities from scratch when that is a responsibility that lies with the State.
