The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has promised to provide 200,000 housing units per year amounting to 800,000 housing units in four years should they be retained in office come December 7.
According to the Minister for Housing, Atta Akyea, the NPP government will embark on a “massive housing roll-out” in their next term in office.
“I can tell you that if and when we assume the reigns of government, we want to tackle this [housing deficit] aggressively, it should be a minimum of about 200,000 housing units in a year,” he stated.
Currently, Ghana’s housing deficit stands at 2 million; a problem which he attributed to the country’s strained financial space.
Speaking on PM: Express, Atta Akyea explained that the NPP had been unable to address, the challenge of Ghana’s housing deficit because of the “inherited troubles” from the previous National Democratic Congress; and some significant capital intensive policies the government had pursued in their first term.
“Why the NPP government is pressing strong, that it is our second term that will see a massive housing rollout is because of what we call the inherited troubles that we came to meet; first of all, GHS33 million debt and if you add also the financial roll out for the banks.
“Then there was a major intervention in the area of Free Senior High School, then we moved on to the Planting for Food and Jobs and the roads. If you’re realistic and put the three areas of economic interventions together, you’ll have very little space to do massive rollout of housing…”
Atta Akyea said the NPP, having now implemented these social intervention schemes would dedicate their resources to provide affordable housing to Ghanaians.
He said government would provide 200,000 housing units per year should they tackle the situation aggressively in their second term.
According to the Minister, considering the technology available, the government might be able to produce even more than the estimated 200,000 units per year.
“And even more, when we apply ourselves properly to the state-of-the-art technology that we believe we should apply, where you can have prefabricated structures that within 21 days we can see a good and decent place of abode.
“Because so far as we are concerned if we went through this normal way of building houses, I’m afraid this deficit will be mocking us for a long tine.”
He added that “it is something that we are hell-bent on achieving in our next term when we have the grace to continue, that will be able to deliver housing in 21 days. That technology is from Hungary “.
source:myjoyonline
