Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kinsford Bagbin has bemoaned the high attrition rate of ministers at the Ministry of Works and Housing.
Contributing to a statement by the Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, on the occasion of the World Habitat Day on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Bagbin said there is the need for the minister assigned to the sector to be given adequate time in order to work on a comprehensive plan of the housing profile of the country.
“Mr Speaker, I want to plead with His Excellency the president to give the current minister time at the ministry to be able to follow through not just the strategic thinking but the development, planning and implementation of what has been decided,” he said.
He said he spent a longer time at the Ministry but there is the need for a sanitisation of that ministry.
‘Works & Housing’ Vrs ‘Housing & Planning’
Mr Bagbin said the combination of works and housing into one ministry creates confusion among stakeholders in the sector.
“Housing will have to go with development not works,” he said. “[since] it results in a struggle between stakeholders because works cut across to roads”.
“I will prefer ‘Housing and Planning’ not ‘Works and Housing’,” he suggested. “But Mr Speaker that is a matter of policy.”
“But it is a ministry so critical that we need to focus on that sector.”
‘Low-cost’ Vrs ‘Affordable’
He also suggested a change from the term affordable housing to low-cost housing.
“I will prefer low-cost housing to affordable housing,” he noted, citing how the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia used that term and it worked for him in his rural development programme.
“When you are talking about low-cost housing, it made a great impact in the rural areas.”