Tema housing project to be completed by September

The first phase involves the completion of 12 blocks comprising 739 housing units, 614 of which are one-bedroom and 912 two-bedroom units which are at various stages of completion.

The entire project consists of 24 blocks made up of 1,526  housing units.

It forms part of the nationwide project, consisting of more than 4,700 housing units located at six sites in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Upper West and Eastern regions.

The project  was initiated under former President Kufuor’s administration in 2006 but work was stalled due to the lack of funds.

Working visit 

The TDC gave the assurance when the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Kwaku Agyemang- Mensah, paid a working visit to the site to familiarise himself with progress of work.

The minister said the government was putting in measures to accelerate the completion of all state-owned affordable housing projects in the country.

The measures which included private sector participation would ensure that cost of houses were made affordable.

“The longer it  takes to mobilise funds to complete these houses, the higher it will cost. We have, therefore, decided to bring in the private sector to accelerate the process in order to make it affordable,” he indicated adding, that “some private developers have already shown interest and we have asked them to present their proposals to the ministry for review.”

Commitment 

He said the government was committed to addressing the housing deficit which had been estimated to be in excess of 1.7 million.

Dr Agyemang-Mensah ended his working visit at the Borteyman site in the Greater Accra Region, where 1,478 units were  handed over to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in March 2014 to be completed in 18 months.

The Ghana Armed Forces, which were also allocated six blocks of 48 housing units at the same site, have since completed them for occupation.