The Housing and Water Ministry says that the Kaieteur News erred when it reported that the Government’s Housing Drive is a profit tool for the Ministry.
In an article dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, the Kaieteur Newspaper published an article with the headline: “Housing Ministry to now construct and sell houses for profit”, but the Ministry said that claim is ‘grossly inaccurate’.
“The information shared in the article is grossly distorted and does not fully reflect the information presented by the Minister of Housing and Water, the Collin Croal, in response to questions, posed to him by Opposition Parliamentarian Annette Ferguson,” the Ministry said.
It explained that Ferguson’s two-part question sought clarity on the $13.9B contracts for the construction of housing units in Regions 3,4, 5, and 6; the breakdown of the category of persons to benefit, and the expected and final cost for the housing units.
In response, the Minister outlined, that persons within the Low, Moderate, Middle, and High brackets will benefit from this initiative.
A breakdown of costing was also provided, and as has been the policy for years under similar housing projects, the cost for the land is included in the final cost.
The units for low-income units carry a final cost of – $5.5 M of which $300,000 will go towards the cost for the land, ($5.2 M per unit). The Moderate-Income units will be sold at -$7.5 M of which $300,000 for land ($7.2 M per unit cost)
The cost for high- and middle-income units stands at $13.9M and $19.9 M respectively, with the land carrying a cost of $1.5 M each
.
As has been the policy on similar housing projects for the construction of housing, each beneficiary is only required to pay the Ministry of Housing Central Housing and Planning Authority, the cost of the land, and the remaining cost is paid to the contractor, through a mortgage scheme with any financial institution of the beneficiary’s choice.
“For Kaieteur News to even suggest that the agency is making a profit on these units is preposterous and disingenuous, as the cost for the lands these units are built on are heavily subsidized by the government. If the newspaper is running out of options for sensational clickbait headlines, in hope of generating a profit, they should spend time researching facts and useful information, which will be beneficial to their readers and not mislead them,” the Ministry said.
