The government’s commitment to finishing the Saglemi Housing Project has been reaffirmed by Minister of Works and Housing Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.

Since it started in 2012, the Saglemi Housing Project has faced numerous obstacles, mostly because of government worries about the contract amount.

In an interview with Bernard Avle on Citi TV’s Point of View on Wednesday, Oppong Nkrumah confirmed that the government is ready to look into joint venture opportunities with possible investors in order to guarantee the project’s successful completion and utilization.

“The buildings and technical expressions are at various stages of completion; some are at the foundation level…and the money is finished. Now as it sits, the state is of the view that it should not be left to rot. That is why the President [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] has asked that we go through a process to identify a private investor and or private investors who have technical and financial competencies to help us finish it and to operationalise it.”

Asked about the government’s current focus, Oppong Nkrumah said, “Minister Samuel Atta Akyea commissioned the evaluation, which then determined that we need about a $100 million to complete it.” The Saglemi Housing Project was abandoned in 2017.

“It was based on his report that prosecution was occasioned somewhere around I think 2021, if my timelines are correct. Minister Asenso Boakye is the one who came to cabinet requesting for funding to continue the project.

“And cabinet did the considerations, went through all the options and said after spending $200m on this, the state couldn’t afford to spend anymore, especially at that time of the beginning of our economic challenges. And so, the decision was made to look for private interest.”

Although he admitted that the project ought to have advanced further under Akufo-Addo’s leadership, he gave his assurance that transparency will bring about change.

“Everybody would wish, arguably so that we would have gone pass the process a lot earlier than where we are now, but the chronology of events is what I have shared with you.

“Our expectation is that, now that we have issued the RFP and with the timelines, and the transparency we are bringing to it, it will be better late than never.”