The Ghanaian Journal

Works and Housing Minister Alhaji Abubakar Boniface Saddique has stated in an interview that government has not forgotten her promise of providing affordable housing units for workers in the country.

“The housing units have not been completed; we are on schedule we got handicapped with finance”.

According to him government has secured a loan from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to finance the project.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the year 2000 promised in its manifesto to build 5,195 housing units to reduce a 500,000 housing deficit in the country, but close to eight years, government is yet to complete any.

Its presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo at a forum with the Institute of Economic Affairs promised to build 50,000 housing units, if given the nod in the December polls.

With the 2000 promise still hanging in the balance, questions have been raised about the party’s ability to deliver on its new promise if voted into power for a third consecutive term.

The minister dismissed assertions that the government had failed in the housing sector having repeated in verbatim the promises it made in the 2000 manifesto in that of 2008.

For instance on page 23 of the 2000 manifesto the NPP promised among other things to provide employers tax credits for implementation of housing schemes for their workers, interest charges on mortgages would be tax deductible, and to treat the construction of the owner occupied houses as new investment for tax purposes.

These promises have been repeated on page 55 of the 2008 manifesto.

The NPP has repeated in its 2008 manifesto about the promise of providing homes for them, when asked whether the repetition was an admission that the promises had not been fulfilled, Alhaji Saddique responded “when promises are made, it doesn’t mean it should be fulfilled immediately, there could be some constraints that bars you from delivering, it is the intention that once you made the promise, you need to deliver, so that you don’t become haunted by the promises you made.”

“If you make a promise and you are not done with it, don’t you repeat it,” he asked rather reluctantly.

According to him, government had made funds available to the HFC Bank to be made available to workers who wanted to build, adding “government has also made the attempt to build the affordable houses for workers.” This he said was in fulfillment of the promises it made in 2000, adding that government’s commitment to provide low cost housing for workers across the country has already commenced with five regions across country.