The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Saturday signed contracts amounting to a total of $750 million with 13 Berbice contractors for the construction of 100 houses at Williamsburg Scheme, Corentyne.
Sherwyn Greaves, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), oversaw the signing of the contracts at the Berbice Chamber of Commerce’s office, at Rose Hall Town, in Berbice, yesterday morning.
Greaves, during his brief remarks, stressed that “What we are extremely happy about is what these hundred units will do for the region, not only in finding homes for a hundred families, but more importantly also creating jobs for persons in the region.”
He added, “His Excellency [President Irfaan Ali] has given us a mandate to produce 22,000 units within the next five years all across the country, and Region Six is one of the areas he has been imploring upon me to ensure that Region Six benefits from this drive and so this is just the first…”
The contractors, who will be building the 100 two-bedroom flat 20×30 units, are: Cardinal Enterprise, S.A.H Construction & Supplies, A.A. Construction, Singh and Sons Construction, Vickram’s Contracting Services, JS Engineering Services and Supplies, N. Ramnarine Construction, Rasheid Construction, SAWA Investment Inc., Ramsarran & Sons Construction, Triple A Construction, E.C.S Construction and General Supplies and Feroze Construction Services.
Greaves said that it is estimated that the companies will hire at least six persons to work on each house, “that is 600 persons will be employed during this period.”
Additionally, he noted that contracts would soon be signed for construction of another 100 houses at Fort Ordnance Housing Scheme.
According to Greaves, the CH&PA is also in discussion with GuySuCo, NICIL and the Lands and Surveys Commission “for additional lands to do more housing units and aswell as to give out more house lots.”
The contactors present were encouraged to hire employees from within the region as well as to purchase as much of their supplies as they possibly can from sources within the region. “The region must benefit as far as possible,” he stressed to them.
Greaves also noted that two clerks of works have been hired within the region to monitor the construction and a few more are expected to be employed as well.
The contractors were also sternly warned to use the best quality materials and to avoid providing substandard work to the CH&PA as necessary action will be taken if that is the case.
