Government says some of STX's flats will be $12,510, but Minority raise doubts

KT Hammond

The Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Water Resources, Works and Housing has described as misleading suggestions by the Minority in Parliament that the unit costs of the STX housing deal have not been provided.

Mr Edem Asimeh said a one-bedroom flat will cost $12,510, a four-bedroom with out house; $73,000 and a three-bedroom house will go for $43,000.

Speaking on Joy FM's Current Affairs Programme, Newsfile, Mr Asimeh said 51 per cent of the flats will be one-bedroom houses and that the houses will be affordable.

The NPP Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, Mr KT Hamond, however, disagreed. He maintained the cost of the houses were far higher than the government was telling the people of Ghana.

Grounding his argument, Mr Hamond said considering the tax exemptions that STX was guaranteed, the fact that the land for the construction of the houses was going to be provided free of charge, and the requirements on the part of the government to provide such infrastructure as roads, water, electricity, sewage and drainage systems, the actual cost of the houses was high.

Mr Asimeh discounted Mr Hamond's assertions, insisting that the government will only be providing those infrastructural facilities for purposes of access to the construction site by STX. “For instance, if you are going to Tesano, where we have the police land…the cost [of accessing the land] will be borne by the government. And to a large extent, most of these lands are accessible,” he noted.

“I'm sorry,” KT Hamond interjected, “I want to quote, it's here in the documents, the Off-take Agreement, look at page 3, paragraph 4(1), 'government of Ghana acknowledges that in order to execute the GOG (Government of Ghana) take off, it is essential that GOG provides …any and all infrastructure necessary for STX to freely access the site and to successfully execute the GOG take-off, including but not limited to, water, electricity, telephone, roads, sewage, drainage. What do you say about that? (Is) that not a cost on top of what you've indicated?, Mr Hamond asked.

Responding, Mr Asimeh, said, “To have any decent construction centre, you make temporary lighting available, you make temporary accommodation available, stores available. I think this is what we are talking about.”

“That's at a cost to the government!, KT Hamond snapped. And the response from Mr Asimeh was swift. “I mean, that's a minimal cost of course!

Moving on, the Adansi/Asokwa MP said “but critically, the land itself is to be given to (STX) free by the government, too. Is that true?”

After a long pause, Mr Asimeh said, “What this agreement is saying is that 'all land designated as sites for the GOG off-take [must be] free from any and all encumbrances, claims, and disputes of any nature.' That means that the land must not be in dispute. It must be free from any litigation so that they can access it freely.”

But is STX paying for the land,? Mr Asimeh was asked.
“Who? He asked back. “STX,” Newsfile host, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo answered.
“The answer is no,” KT Hamond supplied. “You can't say that,” Mr Asimeh retorted. “This is an agreement and we take it as it is in the agreement,” he added.

The Vice Chairman of the Committee on Water Resources, Works and Housing was not able to provide a clear answer as to whether the land for the project will be paid for by the company or not.

Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana