[ 2012-07-18 ]

Rent Control Dept faces ejection over rent arrears
The Rent Control Department (RCD), the state
agency responsible for enforcing the rules
relating to housing and rent as well as settling
disputes that arise from such, currently finds
itself in an unpleasant situation as it risks
ejection following the accumulation of rent
arrears for several months.

This was revealed in an interview with the
National Officer of the RCD, Mr. A.S Dombo, where
it came to light that this was only one of the
numerous constraints militating against the smooth
functioning of the department. The US News also
discovered that the Rent Control Department in the
country has just one vehicle which is at the head
office, thus leaving all other offices with no
means of transport.

Incidentally, before the interview could begin,
the landlord for the national office stormed the
place in the presence of this reporter to
ascertain whether he could have the six months
rent arrears owed him. The paradoxical situation
has raised a lot of eyebrows as to how the Rent
Control Department could be housed in rented
premises, moreover defaulting rent.
Explaining afterwards, Mr. Dombo said the
landlord’s visit is as frequent as the workers,
but each time, he has had to leave disappointed.

He further poured out that the delay in the
release of subventions by government was seriously
crippling their work thus embarrassing the workers
and management of the head office and all other
offices across the country. He said since November
last year, no subventions have been paid to the
Rent Control Department warranting staff of some
offices of the department to contribute money for
the daily maintenance of the office.

Mr. Dombo is therefore appealing to government to
release subventions due the department to relieve
workers of what he describes as frustration and
the appalling conditions under which they work.

He said though the Ministry of Finance has
notified the department of their subventions, the
first quarter subvention is even yet to be made
available to the department. He said after several
attempts by the department since March this year
to receive the money for the first quarter,
accessibility has come to nought as the Accountant
General’s Department argues that the money is not
available yet.

A visit to the Accra office of the Department
confirmed a worse picture. It revealed hunger for
both human and material resources including basic
logistics like furniture and computers. Narrating
the plight of the Accra office, the Principal Rent
Officer of the Department, Fred Tawiah recounted
how electricity bills have become a headache of
the already burdened employees at his outfit.

“We have a big problem here, since our meter was
changed to a prepaid one, we have had to
contribute money in order to buy credits because
there is no fund available for that by the
authorities”, he said.

He explained that the intervention of the workers
have become inevitable because that responsibility
has been shunned by the government since the
installation of the prepaid meter by the
Electricity Company of Ghana in November, 2010. As
at the end of 2011, GH 60,600 worth of credits had
been purchased by the employees. The department
also purchases GH 300 worth of credits weekly due
to the increases in electricity tariffs over the
years, the government must come to our aid, he
added.

He said though under resourced, the office is
always inundated with an average of 50 people who
report to the department daily with all kinds of
housing related issues, for which reason some of
the complaints last longer than they should. He
recommended that more personnel be employed to
facilitate the speed of work at the department.

On statistics for the first quarter of 2012, the
department received 2,363 complaints out of which
1363 have been addressed amicably and 950 referred
to the courts. For the same period in 2011, out of
the total of 9,042 complaints submitted to the
office, 5,042 were settled and 690 transferred to
the courts for redress. This shows that
comparatively, there was a drastic decline in the
number of complaints recorded and those addressed
with an increase in the cases forwarded to the
courts for redress for the first quarter of 2012.

Source - Patricia Siaw/US News

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