Over 200 companies express interest in participating in Govt’s housing initiative

Housing Minister Collin Croal has disclosed that more than 200 companies – local, regional and international – have formally indicated their interest in constructing houses across Guyana, as part of the government’s commitment to deliver 40,000 homes to citizens.

These companies submitted their Expressions of Interest (EoIs) during the Housing Ministry’s recent application process, which closed on October 24.

Technical teams are now conducting the necessary engagement and evaluation on the submissions.

During a recent media engagement, Minister Croal had emphasised that the government wants to support home ownership across the country.

“And we want to…push the whole aspect of giving persons an opportunity to own their home as quickly as possible, not having to have to go through the hassles of dealing [with the process] on their own to find time off from work to dealing with contractors, and all the nuances that happen when you’re building your own home,” he noted.

“All of us, we’re excited [about] what is to come, because in the Expression of Interest, we didn’t give the parameter of the design. What we gave was the size of the houses, the criteria that they should satisfy. So, many of them have been innovative in terms of their design. So, you can rest assured that those contractors that we’ll be moving ahead with for the home construction, you will see new designs outside of what we normally do,” Croal recently declared.

In the EOI that was issued by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), it is outlined that the Government is desirous of constructing housing units under the categories of Low Income (650 sq. ft), Moderate Income (800 sq. ft), Middle Income (1200 sq. ft), High Income (1800 sq. ft) and Young Professional (2200 sq. ft) across all ten administrative regions of the country.

Meanwhile, Head of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) Dr Martin Pertab had previously explained that internal systems are in place to ensure contractors who still have outstanding projects are flagged and possibly prevented from taking on more work with the ministry.

“The CH&PA have internal systems that are designed to ensure that delinquent contractors and those who have a track record of producing substandard, delayed work are flagged. Our focus is on ensuring that the highest standard of housing construction is provided in the most efficient way possible, and contractors who have a history of poor performance do not align with this focus and therefore will not be considered,” Dr Pertab had noted.