The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Samuel Amegayibor has said the Town and Country Planning Department is not doing a good job to help plan the country.
Mr. Amegayibor noted that the department has failed to ensure that developers go by the laid down plan for the country.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Heritage on the sidelines of the just ended conference on housing excellence, the Executive Secretary noted that “they are just not doing their job.”
According to him, “it is the responsibility of Town and Country Planning to ensure that the communities are well planned,” and added that they just have to ensure that developers go by the plan when issuing building permits.
Mr. Amegayibor further explained that everybody can own land but not everybody has the right to how to use the land and it is the responsibility of the department to ensure that lands earmarked for schools and hospitals are used for that purposes.
Touching on government’s response to addressing the housing deficit, the Executive Secretary noted that government is now receptive to their ideas but the laid back attitude towards work at the ministry is affecting the pace of work and plans.
At the conference, Steve Akuffo, Executive Director of Akuffo and Associates, said “we only talk and nothing happens” and added that “the problem with the rural areas is with housing quality.”
Ghana’s former ambassador to Japan and a Council Member of Ghana Institute of Housing, Prof. Adjei-Barwuah on his part also indicated that the housing policy should not be a statement of expectation.
Prof. Adjei-Barwuah stated that there is the need for a deliberate action by governments to house the poor through gathering of accurate information about the citizens.
He also called on Ghanaian financial institutions to be institutionally serious and reduce their one hundred per cent risk free attitude.
According to him, financiers ought to change their attitude about giving loans for housing otherwise “we can’t do anything to get affordable housing.”
The former ambassador further suggest that sources of funding such as housing fund, central provident fund, mortgage products and tax-deductible private funding need to be developed.
He also gave project ideas such as upgrading slums across the major cities, completion of derelict houses through partnerships and space trading with owners of the lands in other to help build more houses and have a well-planned city.
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