Gov't laughs off shady tag on SNECOU housing deal

The Housing Ministry has described as misinformation, claims by policy think tank IMANI Ghana that a unit cost of some 1,000 houses to be constructed by the SNECOU Group for Ghana’s security services will be $77,000.

Secretary to the Housing Committee of the Housing Ministry, Dr Kah Mintah told XYZ News in an interview that the average cost of a unit of the houses will be $47,000.

He says the $77,000 quoted by IMANI includes infrastructural cost for the amenities that will be provided within the community that the houses will be built.

“If you speak to any architect [or] any civil engineer, they will tell you that the typical cost of infrastructure to a housing project is between 25 and 30 percent,” he explained.

He said this is no different from what pertains in the private sector where people build the houses and leave the road networks and other infrastructure in very bad states.

Dr Kah Mintah has also laughed off claims by IMANI Ghana that the whole housing deal is shady. He said two committees -the Housing and the Finance sub committees – are responsible for scrutinizing the projects and approving the deal.

He said per the calibre of people who make up the composition of the committees, groups such as IMANI Ghana should allow them to peruse the document in order to pronounce their verdict.

Under the terms of agreement, Snecou will raise 77.3 million dollars for the construction of the houses.

Government will only make any payments after the 1,000 housing units have been delivered to the satisfaction of the engineers.