Accra, Oct 29, GNA - Dr Mark Nii Akwei Ankrah, Managing Director of the State Housing Company on Thursday disclosed that the Company had engaged about 200 national service personnel to carry out property auditing of all state estates in the country to enable the Company to address the country's housing problem.

He said the exercise would take effect from November 1, 2010 and the officials would visit all the State Estate houses to know who lived in them and whether the occupancy was legal. Dr Ankrah made this known when members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing paid a visit to the company to familiarize themselves with the objectives, problems and challenges of the company.

He said the company would recruit and train personnel to improve upon their capacities and would be bonded for five years in order to serve the Company.

Dr Ankrah also disclosed that a lot of investors from Europe, America , and Asia were coming into the country to provide housing for all income groups based on outright sale, share ownership, or rental. He said the company was faced with a lot of challenges some of which had to do with issues concerning compensation, multiple numbering of state houses, double identification marks, and political interruption, adding that efforts were being made to liaise with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to sort out these issues. He mentioned Dansoman, Kanda, and Kaneshie among others, as some of the places where the Company had serious problems with State property owners. "Occupants pay residential instead of commercial ground rates for the Estate houses", he said.

He noted that in Kumasi some state lands had been encroached upon, adding that in Achimota, South Labadi and South La in Accra, individuals tried to secure indentures for State property, thereby creating complicated land problems that inhibited documentation. Dr Ankrah indicated that he was up to the task of revamping the Company to regain its lost image and that this could be done by having a national housing register to assess the housing needs of all and help to raise funds to solve the housing problems.

He stated that in the 1990s, about 400 people deposited monies while another 4000 applicants also made part-payments with the view to purchasing houses but the Company could not deliver. He appealed to the committee to assist the Company to deal with the problem, adding that a draft policy had been drawn to manage it.

"We are keen to experiment with new building technologies and develop the local content in both material and designing," he said, adding that the cost of a housing unit was about 20,000 Ghana Cedis. He said the company was hoping to deliver more than 1000 homes annually, but stressed that "We must have a workable, profitable and deliverable housing plan to meet the needs of all income groups." Dr Ankrah who had to deal with a lot of questions from committee members, said the Ministry was determined to confront the housing problems head-on.

He said the company would be part of the management team in the STX Korean housing deal and noted that the 30,000 houses allocated for the security agencies was very important.

He said the company would be re-branded and packaged with beautiful layout and a revamped website to project its image. Mr David Tetteh Assumeng, Member of Parliament for Shai Osudoku and Chairman for the Committee, said the State Housing Company should make available information on the divestiture issue to the Committee for discussion.

He noted that the Committee would be ready to work with the Company to improve the housing needs of the people. 29 Oct 10