Plans revealed for new housing development on edge of Lethem

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 May 2017, 15:37 by Denis Chabrol

A new housing development could be built on a site on the edge of Lethem in Region Nine, (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo.

Mayor of Lethem Carlton Beckles recently told the Government Information Agency (GINA), that the municipality plans to develop a 2,000-house lot new housing development on a site, which is about six miles away from Lethem.

The project which is being pursued by the Lethem Municipality, was pitched to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Beckles said.

“Now that I sit on the Central Housing and Planning Authority Board, I started a process of advocating for the government’s housing drive to Lethem,” the Mayor said. He explained that he pitched the idea to the Board and was challenged to meet with the stakeholders in the community, to put forward the proposal and address such issues as land for the housing development.

This meeting occurred late last week, Beckles said. “I met with the various stakeholders, mainly the representatives from the Guyana Lands and Survey, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the Lethem Power Company, and the Guyana Power and Light and we went through the process of identifying lands for this housing drive,” he said.

He explained further that the stakeholders were able to identify an area, at Pork Bridge, just outside Lethem, “where we could have 400 acres of land that can be transformed into 2000 house lots,” he said.

The meeting also allowed for consensus with regards to the category and the size of lands that would be developed and offered to residents. The residents agreed that the house lots would be developed in three categories; low, middle and high income and at sizes 50 x 100 feet, 60 x 120 and 80 x 150, respectively, Beckles said.

“Definitely the land is there and we are going out there, to the site, sometime in the course of this week, and have a firsthand look, and then I would take our suggestions and agreements, back to the Board, for them to start the process with the Guyana Lands and Surveys (Commission) in having the land, (the site) being handed over for the development of the scheme,” the Mayor said.

Oriented towards Guyana’s southern border, Lethem is home to a number of settlements dispersed across its cross-section, including Tabatinga Housing Scheme. This scheme is located on the outskirts of Lethem towards the Takutu Bridge that links Guyana to Brazil. It was established and further developed by the CH&PA between 2000 and 2003. This followed efforts such as site investigations into Tabatinga and the implementation of appropriate development interventions to address existing realities within the scheme.