IT may be argued that every society tries to prioritise its basic needs so that a big chunk of its scarce resources can be used to provide for the most important of those basic needs.
The resources of our society cannot provide for the basic needs in equal measure because the central government’s intervention is constrained by the limited budget.
The inadequate provision or the lack of these basic needs has caused social upheavals in many countries that have led to the collapse of regimes.
The lack of food or hunger can erode the dignity of any individual society or country, while inadequate shelter and our inability to clothe ourselves have adverse effects on our well-being.
Our lack of capacity to regulate the housing sector in our attempt to provide shelter over the heads of majority of the people is partly to blame for the creation of slums in our cities.
All kinds of structures are springing up in the name of shelter in all urban centres because the State has reneged on its responsibility to maintain order in planning and development.
Providing roofs over the heads of the people, especially the working class, has, however, engaged the attention of successive government. In recent years, the State has tried various policy interventions to bridge the housing deficit in the country.
Some of these interventions include support for the private sector to engage in estate development, but this has been hampered by the unfavourable land tenure system and the high cost of building materials.
The State itself has intervened to provide housing units with the establishment of the State Housing Company (SHC) and the mandate given to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to provide accommodation for workers.
It was through the intervention of the SHC in the 1970s that Dansoman in Accra, considered the largest estate in West Africa, was developed, as well as others throughout the country.
However, today, because of economic challenges and other factors, these housing institutions have not been able to provide the accommodation needs of the people, thereby deepening the housing crisis in the country.
The irony of the situation is that a casual glance around the cities and the countryside reveals increased brick and mortar work. This means that more people are constructing their own houses in order to free themselves from the shackles of landlords. Another lesson is that the problem of housing deficit and homelessness cannot be tackled through individual efforts.
The Daily Graphic thinks that the central government’s intervention in this regard is required to bridge the housing deficit without discounting the efforts of the private sector.
We are, therefore, enthused by the efforts of Goodwill International Group to provide 14,360 affordable houses of various kinds in all the regions in fulfilment of the government’s pledge to provide decent accommodation for the people.
While commending the efforts of Goodwill International Group, we think that the stakeholders need to do something about the high cost of accommodation in the country that makes it unaffordable to those in the low income bracket.
The Daily Graphic believes that the challenges in the housing sector should inspire the government to revisit the use of local materials in the housing industry.
We ask whether it is not possible to reduce the use of cement in the housing industry and place the focus on the use of sand and clay, which are in abundance in the country.
The Daily Graphic has time and again called on the government to take another look at the land tenure system with the view to reviewing it to bring it in conformity with productive efforts in the country.
Presently, the land tenure system is counter-productive because it does not stimulate productive activities such as agriculture and estate development.
The individual efforts at providing shelter for the people should be encouraged, but we need to do more at the State level.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, calls on the government to streamline other interventions so that the State can be empowered to change the fortunes of the housing industry.
We encourage the government to do all in its power to regularise the operations of the STX Group, the Korean estate development company, to provide 200,000 housing units for the people.
The Daily Graphic also appeals to Parliament to ratify the agreement between the government and the STX Group as soon as possible, if the national interest is served, to enable the company to begin operations.
We do not think anybody’s interest is served by situating the debate on the agreement in partisan politics.
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