The EC Boss, Jean Mensa and other officials with Ex-President Kufuor
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, yesterday broke the ground for the commencement of a $100 million project aimed at providing offices and residential accommodation for members of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
The project, which would be undertaken by Poly Chanda Overseas Engineering Company Limited and Poly Technologies Incorporated Chinese firm, is expected to deliver housing units in specified military installations nationwide. It forms part of an overarching development agenda to retool, re-equip, rehabilitate, upgrade and provide new accommodation and training in response to the ever-changing threats to national security.
It would include a three-storey military academy hostel with 240 self-contained rooms, two bedroom, four-storey block of 16 flats for platoon commanders, two-storey military academy classroom, two-storey military academy auditorium with 640 seating capacity, military academy administration block with 48 offices, two conference rooms and 3.5-kilometre perimeter wall in Accra.
In Takoradi in the Western Region, the project would see to the construction of two bedroom, a four-storey block of 16 flats, while in Sunyani and Tamale, they would construct two bedroom, a four-storey block of 16 flats and two bedroom half compound house with kitchen (four for a block).
Additional works include the provision of external works at all construction sites and deployment of project construction materials.
Speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony at the Military Academy and Training School (MATS) at Teshie in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo indicated that when completed, the project would help reduce the accommodation challenges confronting the GAF.
He also expressed hope that the establishment of a national housing and mortgage fund would equally leverage private capital investment in the housing industry to help address effectively the country’s two million housing deficit.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent