SSNIT and govt affordable houses
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has served notice that the government’s affordable houses at Borteyman in the Greater Accra Region will not be sold on credit.
It noted that any interested party which was unable to pay cash for any of the units would have to arrange for outright funding from a mortgage firm to pay upfront.
Many are those, particularly in the lower income bracket, mainly civil and public servants, who will complain about the turn of events because they will not be able to raise the full amount to own any of the units to be sold.
Their disappointment will emanate from the fact that at the start of the project in 2005, the then government under President Kufuor pledged to construct those housing units for civil and public servants at very affordable rates as part of a manifesto promise.
The project was also in line with efforts at bridging the yawning housing gap in the country.
It was even rumoured at the time that the units would be sold on credit to applicants, with payment spread over a period of time. The rationale was that many in the targeted group fell within the lower income bracket and could not afford to pay cash before owning the units.
Until the notice was served by SSNIT, many civil and public servants might have been dreaming of securing their own places of abode.
However, it is imperative for the public to understand that the posture of SSNIT is in the right direction.
The GRAPHIC BUSINESS strongly believes that the position of SSNIT, as far as this project is concerned, is the surest way to guarantee returns on its investments.
The Trust, as we all know, is an institution set up to manage the pension funds of workers. As a result, the money it collects from workers needs to be invested in areas that will ensure better returns to guarantee the sustainability of the scheme. Therefore, it will be wrong for the managers of the scheme to toy with the funds they have been entrusted with.
In the past, SSNIT found it necessary to venture into real estate and that positive idea gave birth to the Dansoman and the Sakumono housing units, among others which were given out on rental to workers.
Instead of many of the occupants taking good care of the flats they occupied, they rather chose to run them down. And, to make matters worse, they paid rent that was far below the average rent on the market.
SSNIT had to fight back to compel those interested to buy out the properties they occupied at rock-bottom prices in order to recoup something from an otherwise good investment.
Pension funds are difficult to manage because managers have to ensure that they invest workers’ contributions in instruments and areas that will yield positive dividends to enable them to pay those who go on pension their monthly allowances.
Against this background, the paper fully supports the managers of the trust for their decision and prays that workers will understand SSNIT and cooperate with it in their own interest.
