Minister launches second Property Award

THE government has expressed its readiness to release tracts of land to private estate developers for the construction of affordable houses for low income earners.
The areas where government lands are available are Borteyman, Kpone and along the Akosombo road.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Albert Abongo, announced this at the launch of the second Ghana Property Awards in Accra.
The awards scheme, which is scheduled for July 17, 2009, is on the theme, “Creating a sustainable income in today’s environmental and maintenance cultured industry”.
It also seeks to appreciate hard work and innovation and recognise deserving individuals and organisations in the property, building and construction industry.
The minister appealed to members of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) to commit some of their resources into affordable housing schemes to aid the government to provide affordable houses for Ghanaians.
“The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, on behalf of the government, is ready to support you with land for the purpose of achieving this,” he said.
“It is also important that as stakeholders in the industry, we begin to play our respective roles in the delivery of housing in a way that will sustain our environment and ensure the sustainable utilisation of local building materials, as well as promoting the use of such materials,” Mr Abongo added.
For his part, the President of GREDA, Dr Alex Tweneboah, said the rationale behind the awards was to enhance standards and expose the industry to periodic public scrutiny.
He expressed worry over current standards in the building industry and said some of the professionals were delivering sub-standard jobs for their clients.
He underscored the need for players in the industry to be monitored so that those who were found wanting would be punished.
The Chief Executive Officer of Regimanuel Estate, Mr Emmanuel Botchway, bemoaned the lack of maintenance culture among Ghanaians and asked, “If we are not able to maintain properties belonging to the government, what about our own properties?”
Some of the award categories are Property Security Company of the Year, the Best Property Advertiser of the Year, the Property Personality of the Year, the Residential Developer of the Year and the Paint Company of the Year.