Accra, Feb.2, GNA - The first ever awards ceremony to recognise the effort and achievement of professionals in the property industry was on Thursday launched by Property Express Ghana, a non-governmental organisation.

Dubbed the; "Ghana Property Awards 2006," which is scheduled to take place in October this year, is expected to showcase the performances of the property industry and further encourage excellence and competition. Prof. Ralph Mills Tetteh, a representative of the Architects Registration Council of Ghana, said the property industry had received very low recognition, yet it had been a major contributor to the socio-economic development of the country.

He said it was, therefore, proper that an award ceremony was organised in recognition of the achievements of professionals and also to promote the industry for greater support and investment.

He mentioned some of the sectors of the industry as Building and Construction, Architecture and Surveying and said unlike other developed countries, Ghana had failed to measure its performances and achievements in property development and to improve upon them.

"What we need is a 'peer review,' as a way of measuring what we have against that of others, so that we can see the way forward," Prof. Tetteh said.

Prof. Tetteh stated that as a host country to the CAN 2008 Nations Cup in the year 2008, Ghana had to put in more effort in showcasing its housing, recreational, industrial and other attractive areas of the industry to serve as a booster to tourism.

"We must also start preparations towards the celebrations of Ghana's 50th Independence and as such excellence should be our hallmark," he said.

Mr Robert Wegbe, Executive Director, Property Express Ghana, said criteria would be set for judging the performances of applicants and urged all registered property developers to register in order to showcase their products.

Nii Kommey Okine, a representative from the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), urged the Government to establish an institution, which would finance and buy tracts of land and then sell it to recognised estate developers at affordable price. "Through this, government can control the price of houses and land," he said.

He stated that the cumbersome procedure with land acquisition and the numerous problems that developers faced in securing long term financing had contributed to poor performances in the industry.

He said it was, therefore, important to establish a bank that would grant loans on long-term basis to estate developers so as to improve and expand their businesses to meet the demands of the public. Mr Alhassan Dawuni, Chief Technical Advisor, Ministry of Water Resources, Work and Housing, commended Property Express Ghana, for the initiative and said the Ministry would support the cause to ensure that the industry received the needed recognition and boost.

He called for the involvement of all stakeholders to ensure a sustained programme.