Roads

Contractors, H. Nauth and Sons and Bardon Construction Services, were awarded contracts to upgrade the roads. The projects began on January 22 last and are expected to be completed on June 22, 2015. Works are moving apace and already the socio-economic benefits of having proper road networks are being felt.

A thriving housing scheme, Belle West, has seen tremendous growth over the years. Over $1.5B was spent on infrastructural development in Phases One and Two, and this is in addition to $120M for the construction of  core homes.

Pamela George, who moved two years ago to Belle West Phase 1 from Wales, another community in Region Three, is pleased with the level of development in the area, especially the ongoing road works. She is optimistic in light of the various opportunities that would be available when the works are completed.

George related that prior to the road project, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali consulted with residents on different developmental projects for the community at the area’s multipurpose building. There, it was decided that having better roads was a priority of the residents. They also signalled the need for a bridge to have improved access to the community.

George said that while not all the roads in the community were bad, there were potholes and failure of road surface material that made commute difficult during the wet weather.

In fact, more vehicles are now traversing the community since the construction works began. Devika Persaud, who operates a small shop in Belle West Phase I, and whose street is already upgraded to asphaltic concrete surface, said prior to the works, hire cars did not traverse there. Purchasing goods for her small business was challenging since she was forced to fetch heavy bags long distances.

Other testimonies

As time passed, schools and places of worship were constructed and small businesses began to grow. Within the last five years there has been an increase in activities, particularly the construction of more houses that has led to the transformation of Belle West Phase 1.

Businessman, Razack Mohammed, lauded the work done by the government to have house lots available to residents at an affordable price. “The previous government never used to give house lots, although the land was there, but now this government is giving house lots to the residents, through the new housing programme they have which I think is a very good initiative”.

A religious place of worship in Belle West

Ravi Sugrim, who has been living in the scheme for over five years, also lauded the work of government on the rehabilitation of the roads. “We also have 24 hours of water and electricity supply in our homes, the area has developed a lot”.

Shaneeza Ali, who has been residing in Belle West for over 13 years, noted that, “Before, the area was not like this, now you have big houses being put up, shops in all corners and the roads are now being built through every street, there has indeed been tremendous development from then to now.

Yes, I own my own home and it feels really good, I do not have to worry about paying rent anymore”.

Electricity enables enjoyment of television programmes

Phase 2

To satisfy the growing housing demands of more Guyanese, the Ministry established Belle West Phase 2 in 2011. This is a smaller scheme created to accommodate 440 lots. Today, it has an occupancy rate of 45 percent, and this is expected to increase given that the electrical distribution network in the area has been completed.

Belle West Nursery School

Belle West Phase 2 is one of the schemes under the Government of Guyana /Inter-American Development Bank’s Second Low Income Settlement Programme. It benefited from the provision or upgrade of infrastructure and the core house pilot where 59 core houses were constructed benefiting 236 persons.

Soon the Ministry will commence maintenance works on the roads in Phase 2. Resurfacing of the roadways will not be done until the occupancy level increases, but in the interim, maintenance works would be done to assist the flow of traffic.

Belle West Primary school

Social services  

To ensure the children of the community do not have to travel far to access education, the government has established a primary and a nursery school; these serve students in and around that community.

Serving to enhance the health of the populace is the Belle West Health Centre, constructed in 2012, and which caters for the thousands of residents in the community.

Belle West Health Centre

Residents as well benefit from a good supply of water, making live far easier for them.

Creating these housing establishments is costly, but investment in family is priceless. The Housing Ministry is proud to have provided families with an asset that could be passed on from one generation to another.

Resident accessing potable water supply in his home