The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has stated that the National Service Scheme (NSS) venturing into the building sector will be a game-changer in attaining low-cost housing for the nation.
He explained that with the abundance of expertise at its disposal, the move stands a chance of making great impacts in constructing low-cost housing – especially for teachers across the country.
Dr. Adutwum said this during his visit to the NSS headquarters in Accra, and also used the opportunity to outdoor a newly constructed supplementary office complex for the scheme’s national secretariat.
The ultra-modern office attachment was constructed by some selected NSS personnel who are part of the technical personnel which have technical know-how from the built industry ready to help the scheme in the national low-cost housing project.
Dr. Adutwum assured the NSS of government’s readiness to support them with needed resources as well as create an enabling environment for them to operate in the country. He also announced plans to bring the various stakeholders together to contribute effectively and ensure this project became a reality.
Executive Director of the NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi said: “We have a team that can put up these houses at an affordable cost. When it comes to building, I know one of the most expensive aspects is labour. Already, we are paying for it through national service. We have a backlog of about 1,000 unutilised service persons in the construction field who can take up any task you give to us.”
He was upbeat that his outfit has all the know-how and managerial capabilities to complement government’s efforts at providing low-cost housing for Ghanaians.
Again, he said, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) spends a lot of money on classroom buildings, but some of them are not in good shape. “We are ready to take up these works when given the chance.” He assured that the scheme is ready to collaborate with various stakeholders in the country to ease the burden of Ghanaians in acquiring or building their own houses at an affordable cost.
Background
President Nana Akufo-Addo, in January this year, announced plans by government to construct 10,000 affordable houses for teachers within the next two years. This, it is believed, could help ease the burden of teachers in their bid to build their own houses during their working life or during retirement.
The involvement of NSS and other stakeholders in the built sector will go a long way to reduce the stress many people went through in their bid to acquire their own houses, due to the high cost of building and other factors.
Already, government has started various processes to ensure that the NSS will have the legal right and mandate to undertake the building project without facing any legal tussles from any source in the country.
The NSS, in its bid to succeed, has acquired a two-acre land at Hwereso in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region to start construction of its model structures. The model structures are made up of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom facilities to be selected by the various teachers per their choice and agreement to the payment plan before being constructed.
