Minister of Works and Housing Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (KON) said government would make public all tenders received from developers for the Saglemi Housing Project.
He said the evaluation report would also be made public so people could know how various bids were evaluated.
Oppong Nkrumah said government had been transparent in the process of engaging private developers for the Saglemi Housing Project, and further urged the developer to be transparent and stand up to scrutiny over time.
He said as part of a transparent process, the government would make public all bids received for the development of the Sagremi affordable housing project.
He said the government was acting within the bounds of the law in handling the project.
He revealed that 10 domestic and international companies have expressed interest in the Sagremi housing project.
βThe government has announced the process for the selection of a private developer or a consortium of private developers to complete and operationalise the incomplete Saglemi affordable housing project,β Senator Ofoase Ayilebi told reporters in Parliament on Wednesday, June 19.
βNow, the government initially borrowed about $200 million to build 5,000 houses, but 1,506 of them were only partially completed. This is a common sight at Saglemi Affordable Housing. They lacked three key components: water, electricity and sewerage. An assessment by the Ghana Institute of Surveyors determined that about $100 million was needed to complete the 1,506 houses, and the government, in its tight financial constraints, found it very difficult to come up with another $100 million after spending $200 million.
“So Cabinet decided to select a private developer or a coalition of private developers and let them invest and operate it. A few months ago we issued a request for proposals and to date we have been informed that around 10 companies, both domestic and international, have expressed interest, received documents and had the opportunity to visit the project site and inspect what has been left there so far.”
He added: “There is continuity in the government of Ghana and there have been various governments, including the Kufuor government, the Mills government, the Mahama government and so on, but there is one government called Ghana.”
“The Government of Ghana is pursuing a transparent process for the developer to complete the Saglemi site. We are confident that we are doing everything fairly and in accordance with the law. Whoever bids is prepared to do the same and we hope that ultimately it will stand up to the scrutiny of the passage of time.”
“We are committed to all the bids we receive, ultimately publishing all the bids, and we will also publish an evaluation report so that people can see how the various bids were evaluated.”
“We will publish the decision documents and we will also publish the final agreements so that everything is done fairly and everyone can have confidence that it will stand the test of time.”