The Minister for Works and Housing, Mr. Samuel Atta-Akyea, has disclosed that the government is working out modalities to construct affordable housing units for low and middle-income workers across the country.
The plan, the Minister said, is aimed particularly, at resolving the urban housing deficit, adding that inadequate accommodation in some parts of urban Ghana was worsening the plight of some slum dwellers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He noted that it was impossible to observe the Covid-19 safety protocols such as social distancing and good hygiene practices without adequate housing facilities, adding that, that might increase the vulnerability of the urban poor living in slums.
Mr. Atta-Akyea said this at the 2020 World Habitat Day in Accra.
He said it was very common to see large families living in small rooms in slums and added that if the situation was not resolved, it might negatively affect plans to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
He said the focus of the government was to build houses that could meet the income bracket of the low and middle-income workers so that every urban dweller would have a comfortable but affordable accommodation.
In a remark, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani, encouraged the government to work with the private sector to secure funding and the technical know-how to construct affordable houses to reduce the urban housing deficit.
He said the way to go in reducing Ghana’s urban housing deficit was a strong and strategic partnership agreement in Public-Private-Partnership fashion in the construction sub-sector of the economy.
He added that partnership with the private sector would enable the government to overcome the constraints that prevent the state from providing adequate housing units for everybody.
Esther Atubiga & Constance Evans-Kekrebesi, ISD
