The Guyana government launched the International Building Expo at the National Stadium Friday night, the largest one to date, heralding a massive infrastructural overhaul for the new oil producing country this decade.
Sherwyn Greaves, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing & Planning Authority (CHPA), said that with over 300 local and international small, medium, and largescale companies in manufacturing, engineering, finance, construction and other sectors, the event provides an opportunity to network and grow.
“International Building Expo is the only one of its kind in the Caribbean,” Greaves said. “This year’s expo provides a creative hub where stakeholders, prospective investors, homeowners, and citizens can connect, be inspired, and transform modern and innovative solutions for the creation of smart infrastructure and more sustainable housing developments.”
President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali said the transformation of the country will position it among the best of nations.
“This is a nation that we will exert our energy together to construct, to nurture and to mould, in the dimensions that will reflect who we are as a people,” he said. “This is a mission that requires every single one of us…”
At the Building Expo event, government launched its Dream Realised housing drive, involving the distribution of certificates of titles and transports for lands to Guyanese citizens. Over the next two days, the Ministry aims to allocate 5,000 house lots, and distribute thousands of other titles and transports to allottees.
In support of this Drive, Guyana President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced the government would support Guyana’s working people with free steel and cement to commence construction of their homes. He also announced that banking institutions agreed to reduce downpayments for the financing of homebuilding, to 0% for homes below GY$6 million and to 3.8% for homes up to GY$9 million.
Minister of Housing & Water, Colin Croal said the government will invest US$100 billion into modernising public infrastructure across all Guyana’s 10 administrative regions, with a view of closing development gaps between the coast and the hinterlands. Included in these plans is the start of the development of a new high-tech urban settlement called Silica City.
The President said the physical overhaul of the country is linked to the development of Guyana’s human resources.
“Infrastructure transformation must be linked to the human transformation and advancement… So, the roads and the bridges that you hear us talk about, the new buildings, they are all linked to the upliftment of human life here in Guyana. The transformation is linked to expanded economic opportunities,” Dr. Ali explained.
