Adenta (Greater Accra) 1 Nov '98

The Management of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) said residents of Adenta SSNIT Estates are owing it 114 million cedis in rent arrears as at September 30. ''Management of SSNIT will soon publish the names of defaulters and take action to repossess the flats and re-allocate them to institutions which are willing to pay". Mr Kofi Ampong, Head of the Estate and Maintenance Department of SSNIT, made this known when he met residents of the Adenta SSNIT Estate to find out their problems and how best to solve them. He said most of the defaulters are civil servants who have taken an entrenched position not to pay the new rents of 40,000 cedis and 38,000 cedis for a two-bedroom flat. Mr Ampong explained that the rent review exercise which took effect form January one, this year, was based on the 20 per cent rent subsidy of civil servants. The management of SSNIT will soon review the price of a two- bedroom flat which has been increased from 12.3 million cedis to 40 million cedis and 10.8 million cedis to 38 million cedes which took effect from January one, this year. The 40,000 cedis rent is charged for flats completed in 1994 which have slightly bigger rooms than those constructed in 1991 for which occupants are paying 38, 000 cedis per flat. Mr Ampong said of the 884 flats which are on rental, 600 flats are owing with some of them in arrears of 30 months, 17 months and 12 months and have refused to pay, contending that there has not been any salary increase. Mr Ampong said management of SSNIT is not happy with the springing up of unauthorised structures and kiosks at the estate, adding: ''Adenta Estate, which is among the best of SNNIT estates in the country, is now becoming a slum''. In view of this, he said, the National Disaster Committee (NDC), in conjunction with SSNIT and the State Housing Co-operation, will soon demolish unauthorised structures at the estate. Mr Ampong appealed to residents to ensure that monies deducted from their salaries as rents are promptly paid to SSNIT. He said SSNIT is only in charge of the maintenance of the flats and not its environments and that the provision of street lights and road maintenance are the responsibility of Metropolitan Assemblies. Mr Kwasi Adu Ntiamoah, president of the Adenta SSNIT flats Residents Association, appealed to SSNIT to provide the estate with a community centre, a market and a clinic to make it a standard community. He said the estate needs a Police Station to help curb the activities of wee smokers and stealing syndicates who use uncompleted buildings as their residence. Mr Ntiamoah appealed to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly to see to the re-activation of streetlights which have not been working for some time now .