The government is to establish the Ghana Housing Authority (GHA) which will have the mandate to regulate, plan, develop and manage housing development in the country.
The objective is to decouple the planning, development, and management of housing projects of the Ministry from its core mandate of formulating, coordinating and monitoring the implementation of policies.
The Minister of Works and Housing , Francis Asenso-Boakye disclosed this in a speech read on his behalf at the 14th edition of Ghana Property Awards ceremony held in Accra over the weekend.
It was held on the theme: “Sustainable architecture in ghana’s housing mix”
Corporate bodies and personalities who have shown perseverance, resilience, ingenuity and excellence in the real estate and housing delivery industry were honoured.
Mr Asenso-Boakye whose speech was read by his deputy , Mr Abdulai Abanga, said certainly the GHA would among others streamline the transition from policy formulation, coordination and monitoring through to the successful implementation of government led affordable housing programme.
According to him, despite the housing deficit being reduced from two million to 1.8 million housing units, the housing delivery system had failed to meet the needs of the low-to-middle income Ghanaian.
“It is in this regard that government had initiated moves to create the enabling environment engagement with the private sector to provide affordable housing units for the citizenry,” he said.
That, Mr Asenso-Boakye said would be facilitated through land banks with the government providing basic amenities such as road networks, water, electricity and telecommunication system .
The president of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Mr Patrick EboBonful who chaired the function called on architects to design environmentally friendly buildings which would not depend on too much energy and make them adoptable to Climate change.
He urged architects to design and construct buildings that will not have too much negative impact on the natural world as possible and promotes the health of the building’s occupants.
Mr Bonful emphasised the need for the use of environmentally-friendly building materials which enhances the carbon footprint of the built environment.
The Director of the Ghana Property Awards, Ms Irene Agyenkwah on her part, challenged architects to not only craft designs that excel in form and function but also come out with integrated solutions that take into account environmental factors adding we implore our developers to Nikki’s houses to be international in standard.
The Principal Assistant Registrar of the Architects Registration Council, Ms Josephine Essie Kpesese commended the organisers for their continuous discourse and attempt to encourage bold steps not only in closing the gaps in the housing and property sector over the years but also advancing ways to achieve efficiency and sustainability.
BY NORMAN COOPER
