Accra, Feb. .13, GNA – Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, the Minister of Works and Housing, has encouraged private residence developers, especially foreign ones to consider building affordable housing units for the low and lower to middle income earners.
He noted they were only building elite and ultramodern housing units at “high class and expensive areas” benefiting the already well-to-do sector of the population and urged them to turn to the ‘ordinary person.’
Mr Asenso-Boakye said this when he launched Vaal Real Estate’s Harmonia Residence in Accra.
He said building for the low and lower to middle income earners was the most satisfying way to help mitigate the accommodation needs of Ghanaians and pledged government’s support to developers who considered affordable housing for low-income earners, with the provision of land, tax incentives, and guidance.
The Minister said the government was also working with partner agencies to prohibit unlicensed persons from operating and to stop the act of money laundering in the sector.
Mr Alaa Zayed, the Chief Executive of Vaal Ghana, said the focus of the Company was to invest in housing units to satisfy the needs of prospective customers.
“Our focus is not just to sell our housing unit but to invite the public to join the Harmonia community and satisfy their needs,” he added.
Mr Majeed Saad, Group President and Founder of Vaal, said the goal of Vaal Real Estate was to become the main gate point to promoting investment in the housing development sector.
Mr Prit Shah, the Sales Manager, Vaal Kenya, said aside providing houses for the public, Vaal Real Estate also aimed at providing job opportunities for the youth.
“In Kenya for instance, a success story from there is that we have built thousand homes within six years with 500 indirect employees and 70 direct employees,” he said.
Vaal Ghana, he said, believed in partnership and value creation apart from providing consumers needs and was, therefore, planning to bring a unique development to Ghana.
Now, he said the Company’s facility at the Airport was targeting middle to high income earners who could choose between one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with quality appliances, swimming pools, and gymnasium.
He said they had contributed to the economic growth of Kenya, Morocco, and Ghana in the past five years.
Responding to the Minister’s proposal, Mr Prit said: “We are looking into how we can move our strategy to meeting that market as well along with the high earned people and maybe cover all the basis of the economy.”
The apartments are selling from over US$70,000 with customers entitled to between 10 to 20 per cent discount within a week after the launch.
GNA