Works and Housing Ministry inaugurates board, 2 committees

The Ministry of Works and Housing has inaugurated a nine-member Ministerial Statutory Board to guide and regulate the administration of the ministry in pursuance of its objectives in pushing the transformational agenda in the sector.

Chaired by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso Boakye, the committee, among other duties, is tasked to protect the state’s investment in public infrastructure.

It is made up of representatives from the Lands Commission, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Volta River Authority (VRA), the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA).

To further enhance the operation of the board, the ministry also inaugurated two other committees to assist in its operations.

They were the Audit Committee, which is mandated to ensure that the ministry pursued the implementation of the recommendations contained in internal audit reports, and an Entity Tender Committee, which is in charge of procurement.

Challenges

At the inauguration in Accra last Tuesday, the Works and Housing Minister expressed confidence in the members, stating that the emerging partnership between the political bureaucratic leadership of the ministry and the board would help surmount some of the challenges confronting the sector.

Mr Boakye said over the years, the ministry had been experiencing increasing limitations in its capacity to produce housing for the low-to- middle-income households.

As a result of that, he said, the country was facing a housing deficit currently estimated at two million housing units.

The minister said there was, therefore, the need for the development of more pragmatic measures to tackle the deficit.

He identified some of the constraints in the housing delivery to be high cost, and access to land with good title and free from dispute.

Influential factors

Additionally, Mr Boakye said, long-term financing and over-reliance on expensive imported building materials were contributory factors.

He said the activities of the board would include promotion of constant interaction between the ministry and the users of the ministry’s services, as well as advising the minister on adjustment in policy directions, planning objectives and operational strategies.

“After this inauguration advisory board, I am convinced that I have a committed team that will help push the government’s transformational agenda in this sector. A team that will work hard to protect the state’s investment in public infrastructure,” the minister added.