Attorney Vanessa Thomas on Sunday urged supporters of the opposition APNU to look to the past for inspiration on tackling the country’s housing challenges, invoking the 1970s self-help model that gave birth to communities like Melanie on the East Coast of Demerara.Thomas, who has practised law for over two decades, mounted the APNU’s campaign stage at Melanie where she reminded residents of her roots in the village and her family’s political legacy. “Melanie Damishana I am home.”She is the daughter of Jeffrey Thomas, C.C.H., a former parliamentarian, Minister of Regional Development and Minister of Home Affairs.Addressing the crowd, Thomas rejected claims that the APNU lacks a housing plan. “The other side would have you believe that the Partnership for National Unity has no housing plan. That is a lie,” she declared.“Melanie was started through self-help and the spirit of corporativism — and by that we mean we built Melanie with our hands. Must not be forgotten.”She called on young men in the community to “get out of bondage” and “take courage”, assuring them that under an APNU government, housing would once again be placed in their hands.Thomas highlighted the coalition’s proposed rent-to-own programme, which she said would help families afford rent and secure mortgages.“We didn’t just give land in Melanie — ask Jeffrey… Thomas, my father,” she said, recalling that her father was among those who helped transform the area from pasture land into a thriving settlement in the early 1970s.She dismissed the PPP/C government’s boasts of distributing 50,000 house lots, arguing that serviced land alone means little without the means to build.“How are you going to build your houses?” she challenged, urging residents to demand answers.She stayed clear of addressing the hundreds of homes built by the government over the last five years for low and middle-income families and young professionals.Several other speakers touted the rent to own model as key for the working class and poor.Sunday’s rally at Melanie formed part of the APNU’s push along the East Coast as the opposition ramps up its campaign ahead of the upcoming general elections.The post Lawyer rallies APNU’s Melanie crowd with 1970s self-help model for housing development appeared first on News Room Guyana.