Govt should encourage the construction of rental units

Accra, May 10,GNA - Mr Enock Teye Mensah, (NDC) Member for Ningo Prampram, on Tuesday said the nation's real estate development agenda should be biased towards rental units to save the worker from daily anxieties and harassment.

He said no nation can provide houses for all its citizens for keeps, "but can guarantee shelter in the form rental units". The Member was contributing to a statement made on the floor of Parliament by Mr Joe Kinsley Hackman (NPP), Member for Gomoa West.

Mr Mensah said the constant building and sale of houses at high prices put the ordinary worker at a pitiable and disadvantaged position. The (NPP) Member for Okere, Mr Bradford Adu asked the Government to encourage the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the insurance companies to dole some their huge monetary reserves out for real estate development.

Mr Mahama Ayariga, (NDC) Bawku Central, said, "as a nation, we have failed in this direction (provision of shelter)" He said what compounded the problem was the excessive rents charged by private landlords.

"There is now a rush for people to use whatever means to build a house they can call their own, creating all sorts of problems in the process."

Mr Kojo Armah, (CPP) Member Evalue Dwira, asked the Government to revamp the State Housing Corporation to construct budget-housing units for the poor.

Mr Hackman had delivered the statement on: "National Shelter Provision Strategy - An Important Indicator of Quality of Life for the Poor and Disadvantaged".

He called for a relaxed tax regime in the construction industry, government sponsored rigorous research into cheaper and more durable construction materials and technology to make housing a true right for the ordinary Ghanaian.