Parliament has approved a loan of about 126 million dollars for housing development projects throughout the country, Dr Edward Baffoe-Bonnie, Member of Parliament for Asokwa East has said.

He said 41 million dollars of the amount from the Czech government would be used on a land to be acquired in Accra, while the rest would go to the various regions for similar projects in the regional capitals.

Dr Baffoe-Bonnie was contributing to a people's forum organised by the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (ARCC) in Kumasi on Tuesday as part of activities marking the First Anniversary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

The MP stressed that 100 acres of land was expected to be acquired in each regional capital and the lands serviced with water, electricity and other basic infrastructural facilities before the houses are constructed.

Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister called for political tolerance in the region hoping that non-members of the NPP would soon identify themselves with the government.

He indicated that the government was doing a lot for the country and there was therefore the need for all and sundry to give it the needed support to deliver the goods. "We may go wrong but you should not hesitate to point out our mistakes to us," he said.

Mr Kingsley Kwabena Kessie, Managing Director of Norsout Unique Products Limited (NUPL) called for pre-service light industrial areas to be created in many parts of the Metropolis for investors.

This he said would not only encourage investors both local and foreign but would also facilitate the establishment and acquisition of land for development.

He observed that the government's concern was always on major roads but said access roads to residential areas were also very important and asked that deplorable access roads in the metropolis should be reshaped, rehabilitated or tarred completely.