Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, Vincent Asamoah, has said the minority in parliament were not taken aback when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched a 14,000 housing unit in Pokuase on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
According to him, they knew President Akufo-Addo was not going to complete the Saglemi Housing project because no work was done on the stalled project since he took over office.
Speaking on TV3's Ghana Tonight show on Tuesday, August 2, 2023, the Dormaa West MP said, “We knew Nana Addo wasn’t going to complete the Saglemi project because we are in the 7th year of his administration and we knew that wasn’t going to happen...We raised concerns about the new project not because Saglemi was not going to be completed, we knew they were not going to do that."
“But we wouldn’t want the situation where the similar fate of Saglemi will happen. I am saying is because we know the difficulties with the government when it comes to financial issues,” he added.
The Saglemi project comprises 5,000 housing units and is located in Prampram.
The housing project was originally intended to provide mortgage arrangements for the housing units to be sold to employees through the Ghana Home Loans Company.
However, due to variations in the project, only about 1,506 housing units have been completed.
In November last year, government decided to wash its hands off the Saglemi housing project to allow a private developer to take over.
According to the Ministry of Works and Housing, the private developer will refurbish the housing units and sell them to potential owners.
On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) gave its approval for the appointment of a transaction advisor to facilitate the sale of the Saglemi Housing project to a private sector entity.
This decision follows a directive from Cabinet to the Minister of Works and Housing to explore the possibility of disposing off the project.
The aim is to sell the project at its current value to a private sector entity, which will take on the responsibility of completing the housing units and selling them to the public at no further cost to the government.
ESA/NOQ