200,000 housing units for low income earners

The plight of getting affordable houses by low-income earners in the country will soon be a thing of the past, as government has entered into a public-private partnership arrangement with STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited and HFC Bank Limited to construct 200,000 low income housing units nationwide over the next five years.

An off-taker signatory was being arranged by government to ensure that 45 percent of the housing units were acquired to meet some of the accommodation needs of the security agencies with the project company.

The 200,000 housing units, which would be completed by the company, a Ghana–Korea joint venture development company, would also include the construction of 300 housing units for Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State and the State Protocol for the housing of visiting VVIPs under a build, lease and operate (BOT) basis, starting 2012.

This was unveiled by Mr Albert Aboongo, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing when he took his turn to address the media as part of the Meet-Press series in Accra.

He added that as part of government commitment to increasing workers ‘output and enhancing their sense of security, 100,000 housing units would be constructed over the next eight years as part of the affordable housing programme that was started in 2006 to make housing more accessible to the low and middle-come earners.

This announcement comes at a time when the current housing deficit of the country is said to be hitting the million marks and the annual housing requirement is about 140,000 units, while supply figures are at about 45,000 units per annum and minimum wage is between Gh¢3.00

The Minister announced that a supplier’s credit facility between the government of Ghana and the Renaissance Management Group Incorporated of the USA for an amount of $250 million for the construction of affordable housing was currently before Parliament for consideration.

The Minister, who also addressed the water situation in the country, revealed that the percentage coverage for rural water was standing at 57.14 and it is expected to hit 60% by the close of the year and then 76% by the year 2013 while the average water production of portable waster in the urban areas was 646,494 m3, when the demand was about 1,101,032 m3, while effective water supply coverage currently being 59 per cent.

With the short fall of water production in the urban areas, Mr Abongo said government plans to improve the water situation with the Kpone Water supply expansion project, estimated to cost about $273 million.

The Kpone Water supply expansion project would involve the construction of a new 190,000 m3 an intake, a water treatment plant with new transmission lines through Dodowa to a new reservoir to be constructed at Oyebi.

According the Minister, Teshie, a waster starving town, would be provided with a four million gallon a day (4.4MGD) (200,000 m3) sea water desalination plant to improve water supply by the fourth quarter of next year.