Govt to complete stalled housing projects — Atta Akyea

All uncompleted housing projects will be continued and completed, the Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, has assured Parliament.

The stalled projects include the Koforidua, Tamale and Wa affordable housing projects started under former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Saglemi housing project started under former President John Mahama. 

Taking his turn in Parliament to partake in the debate of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s address on the state of the nation presented to the House last Thursday, Mr Akyea said the government was committed to providing descent and affordable houses to all Ghanaians. 

“The Saglemi housing project will not be abandoned,” he said, adding that once value for money issues were solved, work on the first phase of the project will resume. 

“We will continue and complete all (housing) projects that started under erstwhile administrations.” 

According to Mr Akyea, shelter was a key component of good living, and that a consortium of local banks have made available US$51 million to support the completion of the existing projects. 

He also revealed that, three flats with requisite amenities were to be built in all 275 constituencies of the country. 

A mortgage facility, the Akyem Abuakwa South MP said, was to be rolled out to allow citizens own and pay for descent houses over a 15 to 20 year period.

“This will allow Ghanaians move from tenant statuses to landlords over the period”, Mr Akyea said to loud cheers from his colleagues in the majority. 

On slum development, he said government had developed a programme which it intends to roll out later in the year to uplift slum settlements across the country. 

“For the start, Nima, one of Ghana’s popular slum settlements, would be the foundation beneficiary of the project. So, very soon, you will see Nima transformed,” he said. 

Mr Akyea described drainage, one of the challenges facing the country, as a major priority of government, and said it was being tackled to avoid the annual flooding of the cities, especially Accra and Kumasi. 

On coastal area protection, he said the government was committing its energy and resources to ensure that citizens along the coast of the country were not displaced by tidal waves. 

“So, Mr Speaker, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has raised the standards of governance over the two years of being in office,” he noted.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI