Housing department to correct faulty turn-key houses

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 January 2016, 6:29 by Denis Chabrol

Home owners are set to get some relief as the Housing Department’s,  Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) is moving to correct the badly constructed houses provided under the ‘Turn key Homes’ project at Providence, East Bank Demerara, according t the Government Information Agency (GINA).

Over the years, beneficiaries have been complaining about the shoddy work which was done on their houses that cost $4.9M each ($4.4M for the house and $500,000 for the land).

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Sharpe- Patterson told GINA that the houses have major problems. “There is verandah falling off, one woman said to me her roof has about half pound of euroband and that is what she inherited, water coming into the homes, cracks in the walls and floors. Most of it has to do with the poor quality of materials used.”

Minister Sharpe- Patterson has assured affected persons that all efforts will be made to correct the faulty work, as she has instructed the project’s team to investigate and provide a detailed report on the condition of the houses.

However, from all indications, some persons will have to be relocated due to the state and level of damage to the structures in Providence, while some other houses will be repaired.

“Some of these people have fallen in love with their homes and they don’t want to be relocated. Even though many of them have been living there for up to  four years and the warranty time is over, because it’s structural problems, we will have to do the repairs… it is unfair to those people, and they are paying bank loans,” Minister Sharpe- Patterson stated. The Ministry will be tracking down the contractors that delivered the poor quality work, she added.

The Housing Department is projected to build a number of houses under this project this year, in Perseverance, East Bank Demerara and other areas. Minister Sharpe- Patterson assured Guyanese that, “Any new homes that will be constructed under the APNU+AFC administration will be of high quality.”

The Ministry of Communities will also be putting mechanisms in place to ensure that the homes are up to standard, before persons sign-off on them.