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Minister-designate for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso Boakye, has commended the Saglemi Housing Project as a very laudable initiative to decongest Accra.
According to him, he has received a full briefing on the project and is determined to ensure its completion.
Mr. Asenso Boakye lamented the inability to commission the houses for occupation and stressed the taxpayer’s money should not be allowed to go to waste.
The nominee who appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday 24th February 2020 for vetting pledged to solicit advice on the best financing options to get the project completed.
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His predecessor, Samuel Atta Akyea, had spent substantial time at the Ministry attempting to prosecute former Housing Minister Mr. Collins Dauda under who the project started.
Mr. Atta Akyea argued investigations he had conducted into the project point to serious misappropriation of funds.
Mr Asenso Boakye, however, stated it has become more expedient to complete the Saglemi Housing project because of the potential to provide living quarters for many people staying within the capital.
According to him, over the years Ghana has been producing about 40,000 housing units though the housing deficits stands at approximately two million units.
“This means if we intend to close the gap we have to be producing 200,000 housing units each year.”
“This is a very huge gap that requires different strategies from what we have been pursuing over the past years,” he stated.
The current situation, he said, needs the government’s active intervention, which is why he will pursue the NPP 2020 manifesto pledge on housing and the national housing policy.
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He said, “For some time now we have not had a clear institutional framework that will guide the implementation of housing policies in the country.”
“There is, therefore, the need to establish a national housing authority for the planning and management of housing delivery.”
According to the nominee, such authority would be tasked with creating land banks and providing infrastructure and utilities called serviced sites.
Mr. Asenso Boakye stated that under such a scheme the government will absorb the cost of the land, infrastructure and utilities, which comprise about 50% of the cost of building a house.
This, he said, will mean the cost of housing units will go down by about 50% making it possible for many Ghanaians to be able to purchase houses or build their own homes.
The Minister-designate disclosed that providing rental housing is also a key part of his strategy because affordable housing usually targets people who are established and want their own houses.
The rental housing, he said, will target graduates and young people who have just started their careers in life and need some comfortable shelter as they work to buy their own homes.
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FrontPageGhana.com/Ghana
