[ 2012-05-14 ]

Gov’t considering funding options for stalled affordable housing project
Government has begun a process to raise funding
for the completion of the Affordable Housing
Projects initiated by the NPP government.

Consequently, government has set up a committee to
advise it on how to reactivate the project.

Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing,
Enoch Teye Mensah told a news conference in Accra
on Monday government is worried not even a single
flat out of the over 4,700 flats that were to be
built under the project was completed.

He alleges the then government invested some $70,
000 000 in the project.

The Minister explained work on the NPP affordable
housing scheme stalled for a number of reasons,
including the absence of sustainable funding
arrangements.

He said 61 out of the 388 contractors who were
paid advance mobilization, either failed to move
to site or did very little work and that as much
as 470 houses were allocated to persons at the
Office of the President alone.

On the actual status of the project, the Minister
said work on the Borteyman housing scheme at
Nungua is 62% completed while those at Kpone were
55% completed.

The Asokore-Mampong project is 61% complete,
Koforidua 25%, Tamale 29% and Wa 7%.

He said it was erroneous for the NPP to criticize
a recent MOU signed with GUMA Group of South
Africa for the construction of 500 apartments for
the security agencies because the MOU was only to
facilitate the main agreement.

He described the NPP’s statement describing the
deal as side-lining of GREDA as “opportunistic,
hypocritical and farcical”.

The Minister said since independence the only
Government which has scored zero when it comes to
provision of affordable houses is the
NPP/Dankwa-Busia tradition.

According to him, the NPP only concentrated on the
sale of public houses to themselves, depriving
public and civil servants of accommodation.

Source - Joy News

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