Akufo-Addo cuts sod for Kufuor Estate at Oyoko Akrofuom

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for the construction of 225 housing units at Oyoko Akrofuom in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region.

The housing units will form part of a J.A. Kufuor Estate being constructed in honour of former President John Agyekum Kufuor for his initiative in addressing the housing deficit in the country during his administration.

The project, which is being executed by the Ministry of Works and Housing, is expected to provide 4,000 direct and indirect jobs in the area.

An artist’s impression of the J. A. Kufour Estate at Oyoko Akrofuom in the Atwima Nwabiagya North district of the Ashanti Region

"The decision by the Ministry of Works and Housing to name the estate after my boss, J. A. Kufuor, has my full support.

{loadmodule mod_related_items,Related Ghana News} It is a privilege to cut the sod for the project named after my boss," the President said when he performed the ceremony last Monday on the final leg of his five-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

Explaining why the Sofoline-Sunyani road project had stalled, he said the previous administration failed to pay the contractors who, therefore, abandoned the project.

He told the excited gathering that the Minister of Finance had released $27 million to be used on that project.

Housing deficit

The Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Ms Freda Prempeh, who also spoke at the event, said the inability of successive governments to meet the housing needs of the country had created a huge deficit of more than 1.7 million units.

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She said the government would source both local and international funding to address the housing challenge.

She urged the contractors on the new housing project to explore and use local building materials.

Housing delivery

Ms Prempeh said the State Housing Company (SHC) had also embarked on a systematic provision of housing units in different parts of the country.

Accordingly, she said, the company had reactivated housing projects at Adentan and Laterbiokorshie in Accra, Effiakuma in Takoradi and in some estates in the Brong Ahafo Region.

She said the government would complete the affordable housing projects started under the Kufuor administration in Tamale and Koforidua.

She said the President had initiated many interventions in the housing sector and that work would commence to build 100,000 units by the close of next year.

Ms Prempeh announced that the ministry was working with local and international investors to construct 200,000 units for low-income earners nationwide over the next five years.

She added that the government had made provision for the construction of 40,000 housing units under the Syno-Hydro scheme for the security services throughout the country.