An editorial in a Guyana newspaper on March 13 reveals the deficiencies in Guyana’s Housing authorities. The never ending lines at the Ministry of Housing on Brickdam is a pure disgrace and bears ample testimony to the ineptitude of a failed system. There can be no logic as to why someone waited 17 years for a house lot as indicated two months ago by Miss Archer in Region 5! What is even more bzzare is the Housing Minister, Colin Croal being proudly depicted while handing out the land title. I would be ashamed to know such an occurrence was perpetrated while my gov’t (and the Coalition) was in office.
There can be no doubt that the citizens of Guyana perpetually find themselves at the receiving end of the political directorate and the bungling bureaucrats in what passes for administrative structures. The simple task of allocating a piece of land, which any clerk can perform, falls upon the highest echelons of authority in the Housing Ministry, a phenomenon in which the conduct of officials be interpreted as bestowing a favor to the recipients. This should never be the aura created as owning a house lot is simply obtaining a piece of your birthright.
Bangladesh with its 57,000 square miles and 160 million inhabitants puts the Housing authorities to shame in Guyana and one can arrive at a simple and obvious conclusion: the Housing authorities has failed the people in the facilitating of a basic human necessity. Coupled with this sordid phenomenon is the proliferation of black tanks in every village. Here again is the lava flow of clumsiness that no administration has successfully addressed and is akin to the old adage: if you want milk you have to own your own cow.
Another lopsided undertaking by the Housing Authority is having the actual granting, in ceremony and celebration, of a house lot being undertaken by the actual Minister; and one is left to evaluate what jobs do the management staff perform. The top echelons would serve better purpose if they aspire to formulate new housing schemes and real estate procedures…if they possess such capability. Finally, the Minister of Water in the land of many waters, needs to indicate whether she could fulfil her portfolio as a role model, or go around the country as a model.
