Clear squatters from Kaiser flats - Housing Minister directs TDC
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, has directed the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to clear illegal occupants from some of the structures at the Kaiser flats in Tema.
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The move is to make way for the company to pull down those structures and rebuild them to meet the country’s housing deficit.
The illegal occupants of the flats at Tema Community Four had sought court action to restrain the TDC from ejecting them, but after two years of litigation, the High Court and Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the latter.
Even though the ruling was given in November 2016, requiring the squatters to vacate the flats, they have remained adamant to calls by the TDC to do so.
The development has stalled efforts by the company to carry out its mandate to renovate the 30 flats, four of which have been declared dangerous for occupation by the court.
‘Flash them out’
Mr Atta Akyea, who was on an inspection tour of some Affordable Housing projects at various sites in Tema last Tuesday, asked the TDC to use due process to get the squatters out, as a matter of necessity.
"If the flats are unsafe for occupation and the people want to risk their lives, government will flush them out.
"I have given TDC the backing to take steps to deal with them as we are doing to ‘galamsey’ people because if you are a squatter, it means that you have no business derailing the development process," he said.
The minister was accompanied on the tour by his two deputies, Mrs Freda Prempeh and Mr Eugene Antwi, and some technocrats from the Water and Housing Ministries.
The team was conducted round the facilities by the Managing Director of TDC Company Limited, Mr Joe Abbey, and other management members of the company.
The high-powered team visited project sites such as the TDC Site, three in-filling buildings at Community Two, the GH¢5 million TDC Towers at Community One, the 368-capacity Naval Housing project at Tema New Town and the $180 million housing project at Saglemi at Old Ningo.
Observations
At the TDC Towers, which also has two supermarkets, a restaurant, conference centre and two commercial banks, it was learnt that plans were advanced to open it for occupation by the public.
Out of the 104 uncompleted blocks at the Naval Housing project site that the Works and Housing Ministry handed over to the TDC in November last year, 24 were more than 80 per cent complete.
Workers of the OAS company carrying out the housing project at Saglemi were busily working on the first phase of 1,502 units of accommodation when the team visited. The last two phases are expected to increase the number to 10,000 within the next five years.
Interactions with TDC officials and the managers of the Affordable Housing projects showed that irregular source of funds was the major setback to their work.
Bank for building and construction
Speaking to journalists on the tour with the team, Mr Atta Akyea indicated his resolve to lead a process to seek Cabinet’s support for a bank for building and construction to be established to provide a funding mechanism for mortgage housing.
"When we talk about mortgaging, we need to look at a very sensible means of funding so that there will be real affordability because we cannot do affordable housing with commercial loans.
"There is the need for concessionary loans which will make it easy to pay back," he said.
He underscored the need for partnership between foreign and local companies, as the government attempted to expand the rural housing schemes across the country.
For his part, Mr Abbey said the company would do everything within the premise of the law to get all illegal occupants of the Kaiser flats out.
"We are already back in court to get an order to evict the squatters through appropriate means," he stated.