Using only N41bn for National Housing Programme in 2017 very abysmal—Developer
A major housing supplier in Lagos, Chief Williams Achebe has described the budgeted N41bn for this year’s National Housing Programme as very abysmal considering the jumping housing deficit hobbling the country.
In an interview, he said “Housing will continue to be in short supply until government decides to declare an emergency by way of raising the yearly budget for housing delivery”.
In his submission, “there are many other ways government can support housing supply which include formulating policies that can crash prices of building materials and easing the process of getting titles and land for mass housing in mega cities.
While defending the budget of his ministry, the Minister of Power Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji had disclosed that the National Housing Programme is expected to gulp about N41 billion from the N64.9 billion budgeted for capital spending in the housing sector 2017 budget.
Explaining more before the Senate Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Abuja, Fashola listed the projects competing for prominence in 2017 as the completion and rehabilitation of federal secretariats buildings across the country, the Zik Mausoleum, projects and programmes of PPP, constituency outreach and intervention projects.
According to him, the ministry would soon commence the construction of 165 blocks of 2,000 units of housing estates across the states under the National Housing Programme.
In his remarks, tthe Committee chairman, Engr. Barnabas Gemade assured that the committee would work in tandem with the Appropriation Committee of the senate by recommending necessary provision for on-going and new projects in the housing sector.
