Government To Partner Private Sector To Reduce Housing
The Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Freda Prempeh has paid a working visit to Nyame Dua City, a gated community project being constructed by Sethi Realty, a Real Estate Company in Kpone Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region.
The visit was to inspect the company’s housing project and see how best the Ministry could collaborate with Sethi Realty to reduce the national housing deficit.
The project comprised of 8 blocks of two and three bedroom apartments, with each block consisting of 30 apartments, making a total of 240 apartments.
Addressing the media after the inspection, Hon. Freda Prempeh said as part of public private partnership, the government was considering how best to acquire at least 200 units of apartments from Sethi Reality, which is an indication of providing 200 people with quality accommodation to ease the 1.7 million housing deficit.
She noted that there were a number of high rise buildings in the city but due to the expensive nature of those facilities, it was difficult people to rent or buy these facilities. In view of this, the Ministry was looking at engaging the private sector to jointly provide quality and affordable housing for the citizenry.
Hon. Prempeh said currently, the cost of a two-bedroom apartment is around $200,000, which is beyond the pockets of the middle class, but gave the assurance that the government would look at the social housing scheme to ensure that those below the ladder would be housed.
She urged the private sector to incorporate the use of local building materials into the building industry in order to reduce the cost of buildings and also provide employment for the youth in the country.
The Deputy Minister applauded management of Sethi Realty for constructing such a magnificent state-of-the art facility on an eight-hectare land.
In a related development, Hon. Prempeh warned unauthorized people living in state bungalows to vacate to pave way for authorized public servants. She said that the Ministry would embark on a comprehensive survey and audit on all government properties to ensure that the right people occupied the facilities.
The Deputy Minister said that the Ministry was able to raise a sum of GH? 85,000.00 when they went after occupants of state buildings who were not paying rent and would continue to pursue them until all occupants paid what was due to the government.
She urged squatters living in the Kaiser flats at Tema to vacate the place because the buildings were in a deplorable state and not safe for human habitation. She also called for attitudinal change among Ghanaians to address the problem of flooding in the country, saying government would not hesitate to pull down buildings situated in water ways.
The Chief Executive Officer of Sethi Realty, Mr. Godwin Adjei-Gyamfi, thanked the Deputy Minister for the visit and said it was an example of the government’s commitment to work with the private sector to help reduce the current housing deficit which his company was ready to do.
He said the vision of the company was to have a gated community that would provide state-of-the -art facilities, a pharmacy, recreational facility, security post and standby generator that would ensure 24-hour power supply with affordable apartments.
Mr. Adjei-Gyamfi disclosed that a two-bedroom apartment cost GH?300,000.00 while a three-bedroom apartment cost GH?340,000.00. He indicated that the facility comes along with fitted kitchen, DSTV, 24 hours power supply back up, water reservoir and granite staircase.