RESOLVING THE HOUSING DEFICIT (OCT 7, 2009)

MONDAY, October 5 marked World Habitat Day, a day set aside by the United Nations in 1985 to help people reflect on the state of their towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all.
Here in Ghana, it also offered the opportunity to take a look at the state of our settlements.
It is not in doubt that the habitation standard in the country is not good enough, as the statutory authorities have allowed squatters and others to erect unauthorised structures everywhere.
The creation of slums in our cities especially gained a foothold a few decades ago when many of our compatriots decided to leave the countryside for greener pastures in Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Sekondi-Takoradi.
One of the development models, the “housing first” model, espouses the philosophy that before someone can work towards recovery or employment, a safe and comfortable home is necessary.
Although the solution to the housing deficit of almost one million units appears to be a Herculean task for our government, any pragmatic step may be an appropriate step towards the seeming homelessness among majority of the people, including workers in the cities.
No government can ignore the critical relevance of housing in scaling up the standard of living of the people because housing becomes the nexus point for the delivery of social services.
Indeed, the government is conscious of the task ahead of it and has been devising several strategies to provide accommodation for the people.
At a durbar at Mantse Agbonaa in Accra to mark World Habitat Day, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Albert Abongo, expressed optimism that more Ghanaians would have decent places to lay their heads once the construction of the Affordable Housing Project was completed.
Presently, the development activities of public institutions and individuals have overtaken the planning processes, leading to the creation of settlements ahead of the provision of infrastructure such as schools, roads, electricity, water and health facilities.
It is unfortunate that in our desperation to find a solution to the problems created by the sprawling slums in our cities, we seem to be singing conflicting tunes.
While human rights activists are against the eviction of squatters, the statutory authorities think that law-abiding citizens of the cities can no longer tolerate the nuisance of squatters.
The DAILY GRAPHIC does not think that it is the intention of the government to throw people onto the streets during these harsh times but these unwelcome guests in places such as Sodom and Gomorrah and other slums cannot be allowed to occupy the places where their sheer presence will impede development projects such as the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project.
We may want to ask whether those who insist on the resettlement of the squatters are prepared to sacrifice part of the budgetary allocation for other sectors for the resettlement exercise.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the decision does not rest with a few civil society groups but all Ghanaians whose sacrifices will help to put a lid over the rigmarole of relocating the squatters.
And for the way forward, the government, private developers and even the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) should step up their interventions for the provision of affordable housing in order to address the sprawling slum challenges and homelessness facing the country.