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Nigeria: Bayelsa to Build 1,080 Houses for Civil Servants
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Vanguard (Lagos)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 15 May 2008
Samuel Oyadongha
Lagos
AS part of measures to provide shelter for its workforce, Bayelsa state government is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Canadian firm, Jubee Mortgage consultant for the building of a 1,080 housing units in its proposed Government Reservation Area (GRA) in the state.
The state Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Chief Ayakeme Whiskey disclosed this in Yenagoa while speaking on the achievement of his ministry in the last 10 months of the administration of former governor Timipre Sylva.
According to him, the project when completed will be the first of its kind in state since its creation 12 years ago.
"It will be a masterpiece and first of its kind in the region," he said adding "the state government has acquired 55 hectares of land for that purpose."
Ayakeme also disclosed that the state government last year set up a committee known as Urban Regeneration Committee, with a view to giving the capital city a facelift.
The committee he noted is charged with regenerating the state capital to give it a befitting structure.
"It is embarrassing that 12 years after the creation of the state, Yenagoa is yet to have streets and layouts," he lamented adding "it is the vision of the Chief Sylva administration that Yenagoa be developed in accordance with the Master plan and very soon Yenagoa will be a city to behold."
He also spoke on the welfare of civil servants in the state, saying "it is in view of the need to help improve the lives of workers in the state that government has put in place a mortgage policy for them.
"Since the civil servants are the engine room of any government in power, except you consider their welfare critically and adequately, it will also impact negatively on their overall performance."
Ayakeme further disclosed that the state government has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Special Project Vehicle (SPV) which will undertake the building of housing apartments that will be made up of 720 units of 2-bedroom apartments and 560 units of 3-bedroom apartments.
The three-bedroom apartments when completed he said would be available for sale at the cost of N3.5 million while the two-bedroom will go for N2.2 million adding that the government had opted for three-storey buildings with eight flats each for the apartments.
According to him, another 800 unit of one-bed room apartment will cost prospective buyer the sum of N1.3 million.
The commissioner said that the repayment period for prospective owners of the houses when completed is spread over a period of 25 years so that the workers can pay gradually and enjoy the living in the house even before payment is completed.
The commissioner, who also stated that the ministry is engaging a Private Public Partnership (PPP), added that it is one of the core strategies the ministry is developing in improving the housing infrastructure in the state.
"The only way through which civil servants and public office holders can access houses they can call their own, is by instituting a policy framework that will enable them to access funds to acquire houses that are built through the PPP.
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"The mortgage policy of the Timipre Sylva administration had made it easy for workers to access mortgage from the Federal mortgage through the intervention of the state government-owned mortgage consultant," he said.
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