Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye (1st right), on the inspection tour
The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, yesterday begun a two-day working tour to Tamale in the Northern Region to inspect the progress of projects being undertaken by his ministry as well as have a fair understanding of the issues on ground.
Mr Asenso-Boakye indicated that the construction works and other housing developments across the country lend credence to government’s continuous commitment to providing decent accommodation for its public service workers.
The Tamale housing project, which is within schedule of its 24-month completion period, is expected to bring relief to officers of the service who are posted to work in the region.
The Minister expressed worry about the rate of encroachment on the land for the project. He urged the Northern Regional Coordinating Director and the Tamale Municipal Chief Executive to strengthen their engagement with the chief to forestall any further encroachment.
Currently, the project sits on 94-acre land instead of the original 261 acres of land.
New direction
With a fresh and strategic direction aimed at providing affordable houses for Ghanaians, the Minister said his outfit is poised to collaborate with the private sector to ensure that there is a significant reduction in the national housing deficit.
He emphasised the need to create jobs for local developers in Tamale, adding that this project creates the needed avenue to achieve this objective.
“Government’s focus is to increase the country’s housing stock by subsidising the construction cost by 40 percent through the provision of lands, service amenities and infrastructure,” he said.
He also assessed the state of the low-cost housing units built to provide accommodation facility to junior and senior public service workers in the regional capital. He was hopeful that the ministry’s Redevelopment Projects, which ultimately optimises the use of land in prime areas while increasing the housing stock, would be replicated to further address the housing needs of the people of Tamale.
Gratitude
Welcoming him to the region, the Northern Regional Coordinating Director, Alhassan Issahaku, on behalf of the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shaini Shaibu, expressed gratitude to Mr Asenso-Boakye for being the first Works and Housing Minister, in recent memory, to visit and assess housing and drainage situations in the region.
The Regional Coordinating Director noted that the Minister’s working tour to the region had offered some relief to the people of Tamale whose concerns on housing in particular had been profound, lately.
The Minister commended the 2-day working visit in the company of the Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Abdulai Abanga; the Tamale Municipal Chief Executive, Sule Salifu; officials of State Housing Company and the Ministry.
He expressed satisfaction with the progress of work at the 24-unit apartment for the Ghana Immigration, which is being executed by the State Housing Company Limited.
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