Mar 28, 2019 
Housing issues dominated the concerns of hundreds of citizens, who swarmed the square of the revolution yesterday at the opening of Government’s first public day.
The massive outreach is being conducted at the Square of the Revolution saw more than 22 Government ministries and departments present to assist the public.
Guyanese turned out in their numbers to meet with the various ministers and agency heads to seek resolutions to their concerns.
Among those present during the morning were Minister of State Joseph Harmon; Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally; Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan; Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock; and Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine.
Hundreds of citizens were awaiting their turn to meet with the various officials by the time the event kicked off at 09:00 hours.
Minister Harmon told the hundreds of citizens gathered that the Coalition Government recognised the urgency with which matters need to be addressed and decided to conduct the outreach.
“We acknowledged that if we were to just wait and meet with you in our offices, it might take a long time to get service to you.”
He further assured the citizens that outreach is not a “one-off event” but is part of continuous Government engagements with the people.
“We will be going to various communities across this country to bring Government service to the people…this is a part of what we are doing in government.”
Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, echoed similar sentiments.
Minister of Public Affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams expressed her eagerness to meet with the people. According to her, it is important for the government to have continuous engagements with the people of Guyana.
“We believe in taking the government to the people. We don’t believe in sitting in our office because many times persons come to see ministers and they can’t get access because Ministers are engaged in other important matters.
“So we decided that as ministers of the government we should be bringing our services to the people,” Minister Hastings-Williams said further noting that the massive turn out “is very encouraging”.
The booth managed by the Department of Housing was the busiest and was active all day as scores of persons raised issues about house lots and the need for more of the government low cost homes.
Several persons expressed frustration over the length of time it takes to acquire a house lot.
Some applicants claimed to have applications for house lots dating back 10 years at the Ministry of Housing. They expressed hope that their concerns will be addressed through the forum.
Comments
The Chiney man, Rusky man, the American corporation…They could get a land in GT and construct a large mall, business tower or white elephant within a year, while Guyanese have to wait decades for a house lot, in which the Chiney man will done take over and build a tall 10 storey mall under the lowest building regulations.
House prices are getting dearer here in Guyana because of speculation by Chinese and American corporations paying top dollar for real estate and oil.
We might have to pay almost $20,000,000 (US$100,000) for a small house lot that the Dutch, British and French would have received for free while whipping and murdering us for their empires.