The Committee of Supply on Wednesday approved a historic $159.4 billion allocation for the Ministry of Housing, as the ministry intensifies efforts to clear the backlog of over 75,000 pending applications.

The Estimates of Expenditure were piloted by Minister of Housing, Collin Croal.

Responding to questions concerning the number of pending application in the system, Minister Croal explained that a strategy of a strategy of acquiring lands and simultaneously tendering for infrastructure has been employed, adding that the ministry is working assiduously to clear the backlog based on land availability.

“We have a commitment that we are building at least 40,000 houses over these five years. So, if you take that into consideration, of the 75,000 plus, if you take into consideration that of that Region 4 alone is 50,000, that will tell you that, obviously, we will reduce Region 4 by a great margin, too,” he explained.

In this regard, some $2.2 billion is allocation for land acquisition and the development of new schemes, while $5.4 billion is set aside for upgrades in existing areas. Further, $1.1 billion will support the regularisation of informal settlements.

 Minister Croal explained that several communities are earmarked for regularisation this year in Regions Three, Four and Ten. These include Walton Hall, Pouderoyen, Non-Pariel, Bladen Hall and Ituni.

Additionally the amount of $7.5 billion was announced to support citizens with home construction and improvement through initiatives like the steel-and-cement subsidy.

“We will be targeting persons who may not be able to afford to do repairs, as well as assistance for the continuation of construction and some core homes,” the minister explained.

A total of $48.2 billion has been approved for new initiatives as part of the overall allocation.