| By Leonard Gildarie Last year, for me personally and I believe for the country, was the worst for as long as anyone could remember. I just had a feeling that the country was spinning its wheels in the sand, going absolutely nowhere.Of course, at the risk of being criticized, I am especially referring to the political dialogue (or lack thereof) and the continuing stalemate at the level of the legislature. I believe that if we can get that fixed, this country has places to go. It all boils down to the negotiations. Both sides, seemingly, refuse to relent.Do I dare hope I can live in a tree-lined avenue this year?It has been almost two years now since I have been writing on housing, starting off on one column as a feature story and then receiving a flood of emails and calls asking me to touch on this and on that. I have completed more than 60 articles, stopping for a while before the protests came in,Andrus Peat Jersey, forcing me to restart. I rather enjoyed it, I must admit.This is the first column for 2014. Rightfully so, I am very upbeat about this year and the possibilities. As a journalist, I do intend to step the pressure up somewhat.Today I want to present a wish list that I hope all stakeholders will seriously consider implementing.I would love for a one-stop shop place where new house lot owners can determine, in a step-by-step process, how to start on owning their home. I think this is the most important from the perspective of the most vulnerable of the stakeholders in the housing and construction sector.Time and again,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, I have spoken of how left out in the cold many persons are, managing millions of dollars, dealing with contractors and juggling jobs, purchasing materials and transporting them, and overseeing construction. It is a nightmare. The lending institutions, Housing Ministry, and even the engineering association, should play an increased role. Workshops for persons who have acquired a mortgage should become a must, geared towards teaching them to manage the project within the budget and within a time frame.Secondly, I would love to see some sort of mechanism introduced where legal protection is offered to both house lot owners and the contractors. The mortgage agency should insist on this as part of the paperwork for applications and push for the Central Housing and Planning Authority (the operational arm of the Housing Ministry) to find ways to introduce legislation, if there is an absence, at the soonest.Bad quality work and a host of problems are being encountered by both the client (house lot owner) and contractor. Not all contractors are bad, but there is very little recourse in the absence of any written agreement. I have spoken umpteen times on this.Although I know Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is tight on staff, from complaints and experiences, there have been a great number of breaches occurring. Lands,Wholesale Adidas Shoes China, before the 10-year period is up, are being sold out for millions and then worse yet, not being developed. I know CH&PA has embarked on a programme to reclaim lands that are not being converted, but one of the many reasons for the bushes in new housing schemes are because many of the house lot owners have either sold them or are living abroad. Regardless of the reasons, it is a common sight in many schemes to see lots overgrown with bushes, a perfect haven for mosquitoes, snakes and most worryingly, bandits.I am asking for more inspectors who would also target those persons who are breaking the law by mixing in the middle of the roadways,Air Max Cheap, clearly disregarding the regulations and without heed to the neighbours,Jerseys NFL China, road users and CH&PA.Another area I would love to see addressed is the possible monitoring of housing products in our country. I have heard horror stories of persons paying hundreds of thousands for materials, including lumber and imported items, only to find out that they have been essentially conned. The Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, perhaps? CH&PA can play a role. Certain standards have to be set and importers and suppliers must meet them.I have been living in La Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, for three years and the local NDC has not taken it over as yet. I am forced to clean my drains and pay a private contractor to pick-up the garbage. Please, somebody, I would love to see some movements on this.I am also forced to use wireless internet. I yearn for DSL or Emagine…The yearning will continue because there are no phones in our area…the largest housing scheme in the entire country.I would also love to hear CH&PA telling persons that there is no waiting list for house lots. Wishful thinking I know. But I still hope for it. There are currently about 20,000 applications on file at CH&PA for house lots.I would also love to see streetlights,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, a fire station, police outpost,Jerseys Wholesale, a community park, filtered water system and another bridge across the Demerara River…for the obvious reasons. And I yearn to see more encouragement for the establishment of neighbourhood development groups that will work with CH&PA and the NDC in even planting trees, etc.Another pet peeve of mine that I hope will be addressed this year is the many strays in our area. More so for cattle and horses. I have asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to help, but no action over a year from the pound folks there.Lastly, I would love to see, in time for our mid-year Housing Expo, new building materials and cheaper ones at that. I do believe that locally we can come up with new ways of building that can be beautiful, easy to maintain and cheap to construct.Hard to imagine? Our country is filled with raw materials. Ask Barama, which produces plywood,how it is using what was once considered waste wood. So yes, we have the materials right here.There are many more, yes? May this year be fruitful and I do hope we can move to make at least a few of the wishes a reality. How about some tree-lined avenues?Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget to drop those comments at [email protected] or call 225-8491. |
