Professor Kofi Anokye, together with members of GRACCU inspecting some of the houses
Forty out of the 140 affordable housing being constructed for members of Ghana Revenue Authority Cooperative Credit Union (GRACCU) at the Koans Eastern Hills Estate, Pampaso in the Eastern Region is at its completion stage.
The two bedroom building project undertaken by Koans Building Solutions is aimed at ensuring that more than 800 members of the Union have their own houses before they go on retirement.
The two-bedroom house sited on a 100 by 70 plot of land has facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom and a porch and would be handed over to GRACCU after a down payment of between GH¢65,000 and GH¢70,000 for each house.
Koans Building Solutions is expected to complete the project in a year.
Addressing executive members of GRACCU, who were at the site to inspect the progress of work, the Chief Executive Officer of the Koans Building Solutions, Professor Kofi Anokye said government must have confidence in the local businesses and help them grow and contribute to the growth of the economy.
“We are on the ground and understand the terrain. We can provide quality houses at a cost as low as GH¢20,000 if given the opportunity and so engaging indigenous private companies in the real estate industry instead of foreign companies would help in the retention of capital in the economy as the foreign operators are usually engaged in capital flight” he narrated.
Professor Anokye pointed out that over the years, various governments have been trying to provide affordable housing for the citizenry but had not been able to do so since it did not have enough resources to fund such projects.
“The private sector can do it, government must rather empower the local private sector and support it to provide affordable housing,” he stressed.
Adding his voice, the Chairman of GRACCU, Mr Gordon Aaron Monyo, said the project was being sponsored with loans advanced to members from their savings.
He disclosed that after the first phase, the Union intends to roll out the second phase which will contain 60 more houses for members.
A board secretary of GRACCU, Mr Eric Boateng, said each member was made to pay an initial amount of GH¢5,000 for the start of the project while the rest of the cost is spread over monthly instalments for a three-year period.
He was happy at the rate of work and hope that it would be completed on schedule.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey