A CPP government will help alleviate sufferings of workers

Accra, Aug. 4, GNA - The United Kingdom and Ireland Branch of Convention People's Party (CPP) on Wednesday said a CPP government would enact a revised Rent Act to help alleviate the suffering of workers and small businesses.

It would in addition, work with the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) and other stakeholders in the housing industry to provide technology for building high quality and high capacity homes and apartments across the country.

This was contained in a statement signed by Nii Armah Akomfrah Chairman, CPP UK and Ireland branch, in connection with the STX Korea Housing deal.

It said the CPP would enable a revamped National Housing Unit in the provision of affordable housing throughout the country including rural areas and partner the Ghana Institution of Engineers and other relevant private and public bodies to improve standards and quality in the construction industry.

Other measures to be instituted include the removal of tax holidays for high-end housing markets and provide tax incentives for mass-occupancy affordable housing for workers, promote the development of the mortgage industry to increase the rate of private home ownership in the country.

The statement called on the NDC government to embrace or at least consider alternatives such as the proposals made by GREDA whose proposals to the government for developing affordable housing over the next 10 years appear to offer more value for money.

This includes the Mass Affordable Housing Scheme of over 300,000 housing units to be built in phases over a 10-year period, across all regions of the country at a cost of seven billion dollars as compared to the 200,000 units at 10 billion dollars offered by STX.

It called for close partnership with other Ghanaian professional associations such as the Association of Ghana Industries, Architects, Engineers, Planners, Quantity Surveyors, and other local professional and industry groups.

The statement said a CPP government would provide 30,000 units to be built over a two-year period under a special accelerated programme estimated at about 730 million dollars compared to the 1.5 billion dollars offered by STX for similar quantity of units.

It would raise from local investment banks over 500 million dollars through the issuing of GREDA Housing Bonds and the houses would range in price from 12,000 dollars for a bedroom unit to 49,000 dollars for a four-bedroom house, as compared to the 50,000 dollars average build price of the STX units.

The statement said GREDA's proposal would create over 240,000 direct jobs and 1,200,000 indirect jobs in the Ghanaian economy engaging up to over 4,000 sub-contractors in various regions across the country over the 10-year period.

"We would like to firmly support the GREDA position that Ghanaian companies can also deliver affordable housing for our people," it added.

The UK and Ireland branch of the CPP appealed to the NDC government to reverse the trend in Ghana where the government operated on series of foreign funded project, government's policy on foreign funded projects to receive "kick-backs" and stop equating the ability to secure foreign aid and loans as a mark of its effectiveness.

"We would ask that the government return to first principles, plan the needs of the country, identify what resources we can put in and if there is still a shortfall, decide how much it can borrow, raise on the open market or bilaterally. Above all embrace the skills and ingenuity of Ghanaian professionals as was the case in the past under a CPP Government," it added.

The statement said "Ghana deserves better and congratulate the new CPP Shadow Cabinet who we hope together with the PNC would lead a CPP/PNC alternative to both NDC and NPP."