The Member of Parliament for the Ho West Constituency, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah has endorsed John Mahama’s housing policy, which he recently announced for the Ghanaian working class.
The NDC flagbearer during an interaction with the executives of the national tenants association in his office in Accra in June, announced a policy proposal targeted at reducing the housing deficit in Ghana to address the accommodation needs of the working class in particular.
Mr. Mahama’s new policy will focus on tapping into the use of local but less expensive building materials and significant reliance on efficient building technologies available here in Ghana in addressing the country’s long-aged housing crisis.
This policy proposal according to the Ho West MP, is not just laudable but a bold strategy that is actionable.
“It is important to emphasize that reducing the housing deficit in Ghana would require not only a well thought through strategy but a bold policy backed by an actionable program such as the current proposal from the party’s flagbearer to enable the next government in addressing the housing needs of the working class in Ghana.”
Mr Bedzrah who is also a fellow of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors and a Chartered Quantity Surveyor said the policy will be a control measure to the increasing cost of building materials and its impact on affordability by the ordinary Ghanaian.
The Ho West MP also believes the low-cost building model will in addition to providing decent and affordable homes, “will ultimately provide jobs for the teaming youth” who continue to struggle in search for non-existing job opportunities in the cities.
He contends that the Nana Addo government’s efforts aimed at solving the housing deficit have not yielded any positive results as the Rental Assistance Scheme Policy introduced by the current government is only targeted at a few party supporters instead of teachers, nurses, security personnel, market women amongst others who should rather have benefited from the scheme.
The low-cost building model announced by the NDC flagbearer is already believed to be yielding some positive outcomes in South Africa, the Republic of Benin, and a few other developing countries where local materials have been used in the construction of houses for the working class.
