OP:ED - Mid-year Report: Confusion: Housing Report, Finance Ministry and Ashni Singh

(Kaieteur News) – On September 17, 2026, on chrisram.net, I published a letter entitled “CHPA and its Performance,” raising questions about the quality of financial and performance reporting by the Central Housing and Planning Authority. I indicated then that I would examine the Government’s 2026 Mid-Year Report more fully. Having now done so, the housing section – and the role of Dr. Ashni Singh, the Minister Responsible for Finance – reinforce those concerns.

The Report states that $89.9 billion of the $159.1 billion housing-sector allocation was spent in the first half of 2026, describing the expenditure as being “to expand affordable housing for citizens.” That description is misleadingly broad, since the housing programme also encompasses major infrastructure, community facilities, Silica City and other expenditure which cannot simply be equated with affordable housing. If the $89.9 billion includes expenditure on roads, drains, street lighting, industrial areas, recreational facilities and major developments still in progress, then the Report should say so and identify how much was spent on each major component. Without that breakdown, the reader cannot tell what proportion of the $89.9 billion actually went to houses or house lots, what went to infrastructure and community works, and what went to longer-term projects such as Silica City.

Clearly, the problem is not a shortage of numbers. It is that, presented as they are by Singh, they make very little sense as an account of expenditure. They are neither reconciled nor adequately explained and, for purposes of determining what the $89.9 billion actually purchased, are largely meaningless. Instead of a coherent account showing where the money went, the reader is given a succession of disparate statistics: lots allocated, titles distributed, houses constructed, developments completed or in progress, street lamps installed, subsidies provided, applications processed, and recreational spaces and industrial areas under development.