Vincent Asamoah, Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, has stated that the Minority in Parliament is opposing the new affordable housing reject project not because they do not want Ghanaians to be given affordable homes, but because they do not want what happened to the Seglemi project to happen to this new project in the future where it has been abandoned.
He stated that they wanted to be certain that the government had the resources for the new initiative that has begun.
“We knew Nana Addo wasn’t going to complete the Saglemi project because we are in the 7th year of his administration and we knew that wasn’t going to happen.
We raised concerns about the new project not because Saglemi was not going to be completed, we knew they were not going to do that.
“But we wouldn’t want the situation where the similar faith of Saglemi will happen. I am saying is because we know the difficulties with the government when it comes to financial issues,” he said on the Ghaa Tonight show on Tuesday, August 2.
Earlier, Sampson Ahi, Member of Parliament for Bodi, stated that the new affordable housing project at Pokuase in the Greater Accra Region, which President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod for on Tuesday, August 1, was unlawful.
He stated that the proposal required parliamentary permission, which did not occur before the president cut the sod to begin construction.
In a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 1, Mr Ahi stated, “Under laying of papers in Parliament, this particular project is supposed to be laid in Parliament today but this has not been done, which means the EPC agreement has not been approved in Parliament.”
“So you have presented such a document to Parliament for approval and it has not even been laid yet they are there cutting sod to commence work. What does that mean? Is it a slap on parliament? Is it a disrespect to Parliament’s structures or what?
“We want to support any course to provide homes for Ghanaians but we will not support what is illegal. We think that what’s going on now is illegal because it doesn’t have parliamentary approval.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo disclosed during the sod-cutting event that efforts had been made to finish the Saglemi Housing Project, which had been halted since the overthrow of the John Mahama-led administration.
President Akufo-Addo stated that the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has been authorised to seek a private organisation with the financial and technical capacity to complete the project.
The contentious Saglemi Housing Project began in Prampram, Greater Accra Region, in 2012.
However, the new administration led by President Akufo-Addo voiced concerns about the project’s financial viability.
This resulted in criminal charges being brought against several government officials, including the then-Minister of Water Resources, Works, and Housing, Collins Dauda.
President Akufo-Addo stated on Tuesday at the unveiling of a new affordable housing project in Pokuase that Cabinet has entrusted the Works and Housing Minister with ensuring the completion of the Saglemi project to avoid it from deteriorating.
He stated that, in addition to the $198 million already invested in the project, a total of $114 million is required for its completion.
“Based on these assessments and having taken into account the project location and viability, Cabinet directed the resourceful Minister for Works and Housing, Hon Francis Asenso-Boakye, Member of Parliament for Bantama, to ‘explore the possibility of disposing of the Saglemi Housing Project covering 1,506 housing units at the current value to a private sector entity to complete and sell the housing units to the public and no further cost to the govt’,” President Akufo-Addo told the gathering at the sod-cutting ceremony of the new project.
He hinted that a technical working group was set up and already the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has given approval for a transaction advisor “with the requisite technical and financial capability to complete the project”.
“Indeed the lessons learned from the Saglemi Housing Project have been invaluable in shaping the approach and execution of this new affordable housing initiative.”
