Private takeover of Saglemi project ‘a good call’ – GREDA Executive Secretary

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) Samuel Amegayibor, has charged its members or any private developer who expresses interest in the Saglemi Housing project to sort out all legal issues surrounding the project.

His comments come on the back of the government’s intention to sell the 1,500 housing units to private developers due to its inability to expend more resources in fixing it for use.

The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso Boakye, revealed at a meet press session in Accra on Sunday, November 13, 2022, that the government is exhausted and handicapped and can’t make further commitments to the Saglemi project.

On this basis, “we’re allowing for a private sector developer to take up the initiative to build and sell the housing units”, he said.

Speaking to Citi News, the Executive Secretary of GREDA, Samuel Amegayibor noted that, the project has been entangled with legal issues hence anyone desirous of investing in it must be clear on the terms with the government.

“This [announcement] has clearly shown the intentions of the government to do something with that project, they have committed a lot of funds to it and they don’t want to incur any other cost again and want to dispose of it by selling it to a private investor, I think it is a good call, at least it would bring us to a point for us to transform it into a usable project.”

Mr Amegayibor, however, added, “this calls for a whole assessment, apart from the project itself going to be sold, one has to find out the assessment that was made for the project to be cited at that place.”

“The most important thing is the legal concern, you have to look at the contractual agreement that existed and how the project was supposed to be executed, who the parties involved are because the current government has taken some past ministers to court on this matter so you need to really consult on the legal position.”

The GREDA Executive Secretary further stated that government should sell the facility by blocks or flats to individuals interested in purchasing it because it will be difficult for a single individual developer to take up the entire project.