Measurement error turns ‘own home’ dream to nightmare for single mother

Almost three years after her home’s completion, a single mother is unable to move into it because of a mix up with measurement of her land, preventing her from building a fence around her home as she would be doing so on her neighbour’s land. The woman wrote a letter to this newspaper recently and I reached out to her to reprint it here, to once again share her heart-rending experience and continuous struggle to move into the home she toiled to build.

“I’ve been a single mother for 21 years and am a mid-level professional.

“In 2013, I was awarded a house lot by what I often tell people is a miracle, because one day I was lucky enough to squeeze past the crowd at the Ministry of Housing back in 2012 and get a minute with then minister of Housing, His Excellency Irfaan Ali. This was when I woke up at 3 am and lined up by 4 am for a number to see the minister. Anyway, on that day, after over a dozen tries, I managed to get to the front of the line and I got a lot on the West Bank Demerara.