Francis Asenso-Boakye
Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has revealed that 1,105 Ghanaian workers from six regions have benefited from the National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS).
According to him, the beneficiaries are in the Greater Accra, Eastern, Western, Ashanti, Northern and Bono East Regions.
Responding to questions on the floor of Parliament yesterday, the minister said GH¢13,785,597 had been disbursed to cover the rent advance for the beneficiaries.
Andrew Dari Chiwitey, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, questioned the minister on how many individuals had benefited from the scheme and how much money had been spent on it.
The MP also questioned how much the government spent to launch the rent assistance scheme.
Answering the questions, Mr. Asenso-Boakye said that the NRAS was conceived by the government as a result of the high demand for affordable rental housing.
The scheme was launched in January 2023 and it targets both formal and informal individuals with regular income, he added.
The minister indicated that the scheme removes the burden of huge rent advance payment to homeowners, whereas the programme beneficiaries pay monthly rent to the scheme.
“To operationalise the National Rental Assistance Scheme, the Ministry of Works and Housing constituted a working team that spearheaded the design and modalities for implementation, organised wide stakeholder consultations and developed materials for sensitisation on the scheme and conducted public sensitisation on the NRAS.
Furthermore, he stated that the ministry embarked on public awareness campaigns on the scheme.
“Overall, the Ministry of Works and Housing expended a total of GH¢900,000 on the pre-implementation activities and official launch of the scheme,” he stated.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye noted that, while there was no legal underpinning for the initiative, it was a government policy that was being carried out.
He also responded to a question from Alhassan Suhuyini, the NDC MP for Tamale North, who inquired whether the government modified, re-stated, or paid any sum to the Construction OAS Ghana Limited for the construction of the Saglemi Housing Project after 2016.
According to him, there is an ongoing legal case on the Saglemi Housing project before the court and, therefore, will not want to comment on the issue until after the proceedings.
“Due to this, Mr Speaker, I kindly request a deferral in addressing the question at hand as this may prejudge the outcome of the proceedings,” he added.
“I assure the House that when the court reaches a verdict on the case, I will be very happy to come back and provide a response,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House