The Minority Members on the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament have warned investors who are considering buying Saglemi Housing to tread cautiously. According to the Caucus, it was very optimistic that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would be in power in 2025, and would reverse the decision taken by New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in selling the project to a private investor.
“So the Minority in Parliament, we are stating our position clear; that we would not want any private developer to come in at all. We are very optimistic that NDC will form the next government in 2025.
So any private developer that will partner the government to complete this project; the project will be taken away from him, because it should remain affordable; it should go to workers of Ghana…”
A Ranking Member of the Committee, Mr. Vincent Oppong Asamoah, registered his displeasure over the government’s decision on the project when he and his colleagues took the media on a tour at the project site yesterday.
It would be recalled that the Minister for Works and Housing, Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye, said at a news conference earlier this month, that the government was exploring the possibility of selling the Saglemi Housing Project, covering 1,506 housing units, to a private developer.
According to the Minister, the government had already expended approximately US$196 million on the project, and does not intend to spend additional tax-payers money towards its completion, hence the decision to sell it.
But, speaking to the media yesterday, the Ranking Member noted that the NDC government also had challenges with uncompleted housing projects, which was bequeathed to it by the John Agyekum Kufuor administration, but did not sell off the project to a private investor.
He said what the NDC government did was to collaborate with a state entity – the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) – to complete the project to serve the intended purpose.
“So we thought this government was going to take a cue from what we did previously, so that that the intended purpose, which is affordability, will be achieved,” Mr. Oppong Asamoah said.
He also told the media that the issue of the government not having funds to complete the project was neither here nor there, because it had borrowed enough money and could have used some to complete the project if it was a priority.
He continued that even if the government had decided to borrow money solely for the completion of the project, Ghanaians would have allowed it, because the project was a very good one.
Observations at site
At the site, The Chronicle observed that the assertion that the project was 90 percent complete and could be inhabited by people six years ago was true.
This paper observed that cables, sockets, tilings and sewerage systems were all fixed at the time.
However, all these have been destroyed. The switches have been cut and left on the floor. The window glasses have been broken, and the sinks at the kitchens have all rusted. That, notwithstanding, the paper observed that there were no cracks in the buildings, although the project had been abandoned for six years.
Organised crime and attempts to sell the project to cronies at a cheap price
Based on the level of completion six years ago, which made the place habitable, the Ranking Member said it could be that the NPP government deliberately organised some people to destroy the fittings so that it would have grounds to term the project as a failed one and have a cause to sell it to a private investor.
“The project is 90 percent complete; if I have cables fixed; if I have socket fixed; if I have tiling system done; If I have a sewerage system done, what else do I need; I can move into a building and make myself comfortable.
“Just a matter of somebody trying to run it down, so that they can pay cheap… They can organise with their cronies to be able to pay cheap. And, trust me, I can prophesy to you that this is going to be sold to a family member. This is going to be sold to a businessman. This is going to be sold to a business that is close to them.”
Madam Gizella Akushika Tetteh, MP for Awutu Senya West, also corroborated the Ranking Member’s assertion, saying, “I am beginning to feel that it was organised to run the estate down, and then be able to sell it cheap. You don’t cut off sockets and leave them lying there neatly.”
