Ghana Ministers Accused of Misconduct in Housing Deal General News 2010-07-17
Two cabinet ministers of Ghana are under pressure to resign as they face misconduct accusations in a housing deal between the government and a South Korean-owned firm.The agreement of the deal was suspended indefinitely by the parliament on Thursday on grounds that certain portions of the draft were missing.The ministers involved are Alban Bagbin, minister of water resources, works and housing, and Kwabena Duffuor, minister of finance and economic planning, who worked on the deal before its submission to the parliament.The deal, worth 10 billion U.S. dollars, was negotiated between the government and the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, and involves construction of affordable housing units in the next five years.Spio Garbrah, vice chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, told a local radio on Friday that the suspension proved the officials in charge of the agreement had done a rather "poor job."Edward Ennin, an opposition lawmaker, called for immediate resignation of the two ministers, saying that they had failed to heed advice from some lawmakers that the STX housing deal deserved proper scrutiny before it was brought before the parliament for approval.The Integrity Initiative (GII), Ghana's anti-corruption agency, also called for the dismissal of the ministers whose inaction, it says, led to the suspension of the debate over the deal in the parliament
Keywords - Ghana, Minister, Housing, misconduct, billion dollars, stx, concrete homes, human settlement, Rural Development
Showing posts with label human settlement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human settlement. Show all posts
New designs for low-cost housing
New designs for low-cost housing - SouthAfrica.info
New designs for low-cost housing Nozipho Dlamini
South Africa's affordable housing market is looking to alternative building materials in a competition designed to foster innovation in the industry.
Seventeen houses have been built in Soshanguve Block XX, near Pretoria, using traditional and modern building technologies other than brick and mortar.
The 17 designs - using materials such as insulated precast concrete, brick and steel, and water-based resin - are all entrants in the National Housing Innovation Competition.
The competition is being run by the Housing Technology Innovation Hub, a joint venture sponsored by the National Homebuilders Registration Council (NHBRC) and Absa Bank.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has tasked the NHBRC with building 1 800 houses using new designs, as part of the government's Breaking New Ground social housing programme.
Visiting the Soshanguve site accompanied by provincial housing ministers on Friday, Sisulu said they were "overwhelmed by the beauty, creativity and good quality" of the houses. Sisulu said the provincial ministers had a "great" chance to view the houses and decide which style they could introduce in their provinces.
"What we have seen here today is a typical example of integrated income dwellings that government is always talking about," she said.
NHBRC chief executive officer said the competition was a response to the minister's call to identify new housing products.
"These products have already been judged on all technical aspects, it is now the responsibility of the community to give their opinion of the products," he said.
Sisulu is expected to announce the winner soon.
Keywords - moladi, lightweight concrete home, house, human settlement, ABSA innovative housing, competition, winner, nhbrc, shack, rdp, developer, builder
New designs for low-cost housing Nozipho Dlamini
South Africa's affordable housing market is looking to alternative building materials in a competition designed to foster innovation in the industry.
Seventeen houses have been built in Soshanguve Block XX, near Pretoria, using traditional and modern building technologies other than brick and mortar.
The 17 designs - using materials such as insulated precast concrete, brick and steel, and water-based resin - are all entrants in the National Housing Innovation Competition.
The competition is being run by the Housing Technology Innovation Hub, a joint venture sponsored by the National Homebuilders Registration Council (NHBRC) and Absa Bank.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has tasked the NHBRC with building 1 800 houses using new designs, as part of the government's Breaking New Ground social housing programme.
Visiting the Soshanguve site accompanied by provincial housing ministers on Friday, Sisulu said they were "overwhelmed by the beauty, creativity and good quality" of the houses. Sisulu said the provincial ministers had a "great" chance to view the houses and decide which style they could introduce in their provinces.
"What we have seen here today is a typical example of integrated income dwellings that government is always talking about," she said.
NHBRC chief executive officer said the competition was a response to the minister's call to identify new housing products.
"These products have already been judged on all technical aspects, it is now the responsibility of the community to give their opinion of the products," he said.
Sisulu is expected to announce the winner soon.
Keywords - moladi, lightweight concrete home, house, human settlement, ABSA innovative housing, competition, winner, nhbrc, shack, rdp, developer, builder
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