KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says Guyana, which “has an excellent, regulated forestry program,” will help reforestation the island.
Gonsalves, who is wrapping up a four-day official visit to Guyana, said in addition, Kingstown is buying wooden houses from Guyana to replace those destroyed by the April 2021 eruption of La Soufriere volcano.
Speaking on the state-owned NBC Radio from Georgetown, Gonsalves said that the timber industry in Guyana is well-regulated and that during the trip, he has been “pushing things and ensuring that they reach the highest level.”
Gonsalves said he and President Dr. Irfaan Ali have agreed on the reforestation program.
“And we’re going to have good cooperation with Guyana to help us with our reforestation, the forestry generally, and … get everybody involved because the forest helps us breathe,” Gonsalves said.
“In our part of the world, the English-speaking Caribbean, they have tremendous technical skills. And of course, as you know, with the previous Colombian government, we have worked out an agreement for them to be involved, then COVID, the volcanic eruption. However, you still work with the Columbians, but I’m just making sure that we have our Guyanese brothers and sisters involved,” Gonsalves added.
Deputy Prime Minister Montgomery Daniel, who was also on the radio program, said Guyana is powerful in forest management because it wants to maintain its carbon credits.
Prime Minister Gonsalves said that the island is finalizing negotiations with Demerara Bank in Guyana for a US$2.2 million loan to purchase green heart prefabricated wooden houses from DuraVilla Homes Guyana, Inc.
Gonsalves said the one-bedroom houses are:
- 333 square feet.
- The two-bedroom is 526 square feet.
- The three bedrooms are 776 square feet.
“Including the freight, the one-bedroom would be US$16,900, the two-bedroom would be just over US$25,000, and the three-bedroom about US$37 800,” Prime Minister Gonsalves told radio listeners.
“And they are laid out beautifully. And the idea is to have them certainly grounded in the concrete, in the cement, so that we can have perhaps category 4, hurricane resilient,” he said, adding that the homes can undoubtedly withstand a category three hurricane.
“I think people are going to love them,” he said, adding that the prices are “pretty good,” noting that the three-bedroom house would cost about EC$100,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents).
He said the US$2.2 million loan would be for seven years at five percent interest on the reduced balance. Gonsalves said while the interest rate is not as low as development banks’ or the two percent offered by Taiwan, it is “a reasonable interest rate.
“But given the rise in interest rates globally, five percent is an excellent interest rate. I think people hearing me would say they wish they could get money at 5%, and it’s on the declining balance.”
He said his government would receive the loan documents in a few days, and the bank wants to travel to Kingstown to sign between January 19 and 21 and to see the sites where the houses will be built in North Leeward, North Central Windward, and North Windward.
“Those are the three which are mainly affected by the volcano,” Gonsalves said, dismissing suggestions that when some people hear about timber houses, they think of plywood.
“This is hardwood. This lasts as long as concrete; it is durable,” he said, adding, “I believe that when people see them that we will have a big demand… So we will probably have to work out arrangements to get some more, but we will see how that goes. And how the demand is in the system,” Gonsalves said.
Housing Minister Montgomery Daniel, a guest on the program, said there are greenheart houses in London, Sandy Bay, which were constructed in 1980.
Gonsalves said that while the construction of wooden houses was not encouraged here to protect the forest, houses were built out of greenheart when he was a young man and lasted for generations.
“Some traditional colonial houses, which have stood the test of time, were greenheart, lasted for generations…. “Now, if, as I expect, these houses to be beautiful to persons, after this first 50, we hope to get them by the end of March; once all the documentation is signed, we can make arrangements for others.
“And then to build them like the low-income houses, which we had done before for persons to go to the bank and try and do them through HLDC,” Gonsalves said, reiterating that the houses are for people who were affected by the volcano.
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