Alhaji Coliins Dauda, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work by Agu Resources in securing funds to implement a 10,000 housing unit project at Amasaman.

He said the partners had shown their willingness to support Agu Resources and the government of Ghana with funds to undertake the project.

“They have given us very clear indications that they are willing and ready to partner Agu Resources and for that matter the government of Ghana to develop the project,” he said.

Alhaji Dauda said this on Tuesday when representatives of the consortium paid a courtesy call on him to update him on the progress of securing funds for the implementation of the project.

He said whereas government in the past relied on securing loans and using state institutions such as the State Housing Company and the Tema Development Cooperation to implement such projects, it was now relying on Public/Private Partnerships.

In line with this, he said, the ministry had a partnership agreement with Agu Resources to deliver the houses on a tract of land allocated by the Ministry at Amasaman.

Agu Resources has in turn put together a consortium of partners and investors from Korea and the United States.

He said buying the units would be open to the general public, as it was necessary for investors to be able to recoup their investment.

Mr Ricardo Tejada, Managing Director of Vnesto Capital, one of the investors in the project, said although he could not give a definite timeline on when funds would be released for the project, they had been working on it for some time and it would be finalised soon.

“It’s just a matter of completing some specific protocols, due diligence and compliance issues including environmental, social and financial protocols before we can finalise the paperwork,” said.

Christine Dadson, Director of Operations, Agu Resources, said the first phase of the project would deliver almost 3000 units. She said everything had been put in place including local contractors and design team who would be working on the project, adding that it would provide employment for many Ghanaians.

“We are going to ensure that as many Ghanaians as possible are included in the project and also ensure the highest quality using innovative technology” she said.